Simi Drive-In
361 Tierra Rejada Road,
Simi Valley,
CA
93065
361 Tierra Rejada Road,
Simi Valley,
CA
93065
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 28 comments
A closer address is 209 Tierra Rejada Rd, Simi Valley, CA.
As per the discussion, the actual street addresses of the area have changed. The original address listed is now nearly two full blocks away from where the drive-in actually stood.
Galway Lane lines up with the old drive-in entrance as shown on the overhead map and with the Street sign that can be seen in a previous post.
https://tinyurl.com/2p8vyr7d
I do not agree with your view that only new CT members will assume that the address listed under the name only refers to the original address and not the current one. After all, the maps on this site are set to take the viewer to the current address, so that is how the site is geared, but we will have to agree to disagree on that.
However, what the admin wants to do is up to the admin. All I can do is request a change and provide evidence to back that up. So with that in mind.
Understood. The Admins already changed it back to 361, so they will see this and change it accordingly as they see fit. I have actually made your same argument in the past. But it pertained to extant buildings whose address numbers and/or street names had changed. Only a few though where stretches of land had changed the previous numbering. But only a few got changed, with the rest remaining in the comments. Most that are that interested, will read all the comments through notifications, and be able to find it based on what you provided. Only new CT members to the page, would likely start at the address provided. Thank you for all the clarifications.
This is the street sign for Galway Lane. And Galway Lane is the same entrance as the old drive-in.
https://tinyurl.com/ybmdxeeb
DavidZornig, the street numbers have been changed. That’s what I said in my previous post. I can SEE the changes using Google Maps and Street Views on the houses/streets themselves.
Galway Lane, which is where the old entrance to the drive-in was, is located at 200 Tierra Rejada Road because it states that on the street sign itself.
So, based on the addresses of the streets and houses as seen through Google Maps and Street View, not because of them, the accurate address of the entrance road to the old drive-in is 209 Tierra Rejada Road.
I use 209 because that is a very minor shift that better aligns on Google Maps, but I would be happy with 200.
361 is too far away, a full block away from the entrance. So, 361 Tierra Rejada Road should not be used because there is a better, more accurate address.
I agree with your suggestion. But only if street names and/or numbers have been changed. Not based on where Google street view shows something to have been. That belongs in the comments. The drawback of updating addresses based solely on Google street views, is that they are constantly in flux and updated. And thus could be wrong again in a short amount of time. Some will shift from 2009 to 2020 just by scrolling right or left. Those are indeed good for before and after comparisons. But changing an address based solely on a Google street view, and not an extant theatre building, or where one stood in between extant buildings, is a slippery slope. Particularly with former demolished drive-in sites. Also troubling is that Google street views have never been successfully linked to in comments on CT. It automatically alters them by adding unrelated theatres to the link in it’s text. So one would have to read the comments to find out where the closest point to start their street view search is anyway.
I understand that there are several different views of how addresses should be presented on the pages. It’s gone from center of the property to the entrance road and so forth.
I take the opposite view that the purpose of the address on CT is to locate where the property is today. And that original addresses should be in the comments or description. This is because addresses not only change, they are also removed so they cannot be found anymore. It does little good to post an address that is either inaccurate or non-existent in my view.
And for many it is not moot when looking to see what the property is today, even if there is no trace of the drive-in remaining. It allows people to see how the property has changed over time.
My suggested solution is simple. Post the current/accurate address at the top and put all pertinent historic information in the description, including old addresses. That avoids all confusion.
I understand fully. I am just one that believes that the original addresses of theatres should be used in the Overviews. And that any subsequent addresses or street name changes should be covered in the comments sections. Particularly when locating any remains of a demolished theatre is moot, as is the case in this one. As that is how it was when I joined CT 18 years ago. Maybe new addresses/street names could be in parenthesis as a solution.
DavidZornig, the addresses have changed on the street itself. You can see it when viewing Google Maps and Street View.
On Google Maps, 361 Tierra Rejada Road aligns with Stargaze Place. Which is one block west of where the drive-in sat. You can see the “400” address on the street sign.
Galway Lane, which aligns with the entrance to the old drive-in, is at “200” on the street sign.
The overhead Google Maps include the current addresses. “361” has moved one full block to the west. “209” is pretty much where the entrance road use to be.
https://tinyurl.com/3zxepshy
So, the original address is no longer in effect for locating the drive-in because the town has changed the addresses. This is not all that unusual.
The original 361 Tierra Rejada Road address is correct, as that is what appears on the 1975 Simi Drive-In Theatre’s newspaper print ad below that I posted in 2020.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/11207/photos/297992
A closer address is 209 Tierra Rejada Rd, Simi Valley, CA.
The old entrance to the drive-in is now Galway Lane. The drive-in was still intact in a 1995 aerial with no indication that it had become a swap meet at least at that time. By 2005, the drive-in had been demolished and housing was built on the property.
There is no trace of the old drive-in remaining.
Featured in Drive-In Massacre (1976)
1975 print ad as Simi Drive-In Theatre, Tuesday Night Swap Meet added courtesy Chach Hernandez.
The Simi Drive-In opened on August 7th, 1963. Grand opening ad posted.
The 1993 movie Poetic Justice filmed a scene here complete with a fake movie playing. Wish I was around to see it in person but that’s a nice way to preserve it.
My Dad built the Simi drive-in in 1962-63. He had previously built a drive-in in Lompoc Ca. where we lived at the time. He was a prolific builder in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties at the time. Mostly tract homes and some new commercial buildings. I remember a funny story about the Simi Drive-in. I was only about 14 at the time and Dad had a 55 Corvette that he would let me drive at times. They had just finished the asphalt ‘berms’ that were around the parking area. I got into the vette and began driving around thinking I was Mario Andretti or something. I was driving up on the berms like banks on a race track. Trouble was that the asphalt was still fresh enough to leave tire marks. I got in a lot of trouble. Those were the days……
Thanks for the info ken mc.
Here is a 1980 aerial view:
http://tinyurl.com/yk4fpt4
This ad was in the Van Nuys Valley News in February 1974. Per William’s post immediately above, the address should be corrected in the introduction.
http://tinyurl.com/dlg627
The address of the Simi Drive-In was 361 Tierra Rejada Road, Simi Valley 93065 and the car capacity was 500.
There must have been enough of a population base at that time to justify the construction. Panning around the 1969 photo shows only farmland, and I can’t imagine 1963 being any different.
The Simi Drive-In was opened by Metropolitan Theatres in September, 1963. The announcement was published in the September 9 issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
If you enter the address here you will see three aerial photos showing the drive-in. No street number is needed, the drive-in will pop right up. In the 1969 photo, the drive-in is in the middle of nowhere as none of the surrounding property had been developed.
View link
Great pictures… too bad the link with the demolition pictures was dead.
I added my memories about the Larwin in its section if anyone is curious: /theaters/21845/
As for Simi Drive in… some memories:
Sitting in line waiting for each car to find a spot and park.
Try to mount the heavy steel monotone speaker on the side of the window glass without breaking it.
The scary rusty playground right below the screen.
The walk between the cars in the dark to the snack bar while watching the movie playing on the other screen.
Spending too many quarters in the junk toy vending machine. Such as a toy guillotine that looked like it would cut off your finger, but didn’t.
Snacks were ready to go, you just grabbed what you wanted and paid.
The walk back to the car, not wanting to miss the movie yet trying not to be distracted by the movie and fall dropping all the snacks you just bought.
Intermission cartoons… don’t see those much any more.
The Larwin was advertised as a twin in 1976 per the LA Times.