Roadium Drive-In

2500 Redondo Beach Boulevard,
Torrance, CA 90504

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Alan Bell
Alan Bell on October 26, 2023 at 3:35 pm

Several folks have asked about the origin of the name Roadium. I don’t know but I’d guess it’s a portmanteau of “road” and “auditorium.”

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on June 15, 2021 at 11:52 am

This drive-in also a 18 hole miniture golf course(most unusual in The World), The 40 foot rocket seen in the above photo, is part of the miniture golf course.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on June 14, 2021 at 1:30 pm

Boxoffice reported that this Roadium opened on May 19, 1950.

Boxoffice, May 27, 1950: “GARDENA, CALIF. – Added to the swelling list of ozoners in the southland territory was the Roadium No. 2, 480-car drive-in which opened here (19). Dale Gasteigen is the owner and managing operator of the new showcase and is a partner with Joe Bianca in the operation of the Roadium No. 1, located in the nearby township of Paramount.”

Boxoffice, July 15, 1950: (opened 1950 list) “Roadium, 480, Dale Gastigen”

rivest266
rivest266 on October 22, 2019 at 6:42 pm

Correction: This opened on September 8th, 1950. The Roadium Drive-In in Paramount (now Paramount Drive-In opened on May 21st, 1948.)

Kris4077
Kris4077 on October 12, 2019 at 10:22 am

Responding to some older comments above about covered over projection ports on the back of the concession stand and the pre-opening matchbook cover. Going by the aerial shots on historicaerials this drive in was planned as a 2 screen. In the 1952 aerial the lot has only been half graded. But in the 1962 Aerial some ramps have been added to the back half of the lot pointing toward the front screen. It may have been that after the owners started the flea market that they realized that they could make more money with the flea market than they could ever make with a second screen that they decided to forgo it altogether and only have a single screen. I think that now that they are showing movies again they should add the second screen.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on November 10, 2018 at 5:30 am

Is it near a military or NASA base, hence the missle(or rocket?) seen behind the screen in the above photo?

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on November 9, 2018 at 2:21 pm

now roadium open air market!

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on November 9, 2018 at 2:15 pm

i don’t know why it was called roadium but that is a very interesting question.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 24, 2018 at 5:59 am

Opened in 1950 and closed in(late 1980’s?). Is the missile(or rocket?) seen behind the screen in the above photo still there? Why the name Roadium?

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on October 23, 2018 at 9:09 pm

the marquee screen and ramps still remain.

driveinboi
driveinboi on January 9, 2018 at 6:28 pm

Referring to a previous comment from years ago, this could have been originally designed as a twin. I saw a matchbook cover online that describes this as a dual drive in theatre. I posted in the photo section…

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on July 31, 2017 at 3:00 am

Is it known what year movie screenings finished there?

tnavel
tnavel on March 17, 2012 at 7:22 pm

when i used to go to the roadium there was a mini golf course there and just to the right was a sizzler restaurant. when i first went there there was a playground in front of the screen. 3 mins before the movie started they would dim the lights for a moment and we would all run to the car.my dad had a spotlight and he would play tag with other spotlights on the screen

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on March 1, 2010 at 12:33 pm

Here is a photo taken early this morning:
http://tinyurl.com/yj6ware

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 14, 2010 at 1:59 pm

Here is a 1980 aerial view. In the 1952 photo, it looks like the drive-in is under construction.
http://tinyurl.com/y8n6n6j

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 27, 2007 at 10:14 pm

Capacity in 1963 was 480 cars. Operator at that time was Pioneer Theatres, Inc, by Jim Finkler.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 20, 2007 at 9:30 pm

From the LA Times, dated 8/15/57:

Torrance Brawl Ends in Fatal Stabbing; Five Held

A Hawthorne teen-age youth staggered fifteen feet out of a drive-in theater lounge late last night and collapsed face down, with a fatal stab wound in his chest. The stabbing occurred just after four men knocked down another unidentified youth outside the lounge. The men then went inside and fought with the teenager who was killed, witnesses told police.

In the ensuing uproar at the Roadium Theater, 2500 Redondo Beach Boulevard, police hurriedly searched every car and brought in five adults for questioning. Dead on arrival at Harbor General Hospital was John Nelson Edwards, 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Edwards, 243 E. 137th Street, Hawthorne.

dennis906
dennis906 on April 4, 2006 at 12:12 pm

I worked the booth in 1975. Here’s something odd I found. On the back (south facing) wall of the booth was what looked like projection ports but covered up. It looked to me like this drive-in was originally designed as a twin but the second screen tower was never built.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on August 26, 2005 at 9:26 pm

Drive-in theaters may die, but swap meets live on forever…

RobertR
RobertR on March 22, 2005 at 8:31 am

It would be easy to open this up again as a drive-in if somebody wanted to be daring.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 22, 2005 at 3:53 am

The theater listings of the Los Angeles Times issue of February 10th, 1971, have the Roadium listed among the independent drive-ins. I can’t find it listed at all in the August 24th, 1986 issue of The Times.

danz
danz on March 22, 2005 at 1:51 am

I lived in Manhattan Beach in the late 1950’s and we often went to the Roadium Drive-In. Nothing really special. Just a big lot with speakers and a big screen. Not really too much fun in the family stationwagon. I preferred going to the GRAND theaters downtown Los Angeles. They were all so magnificent.