27th Avenue Drive-In
2780 NW 87th Street,
Miami,
FL
33147
2780 NW 87th Street,
Miami,
FL
33147
2 people
favorited this theater
Opened on May 27, 1950, Wometco Theatres 27th Avenue Drive-In was located on NW 87th Street. This drive in was quite unique in it’s day, being the only drive-in in Miami that had air conditioning. Other than the air-conditioning, there was nothing special about this theatre. It was closed in 1986. The screen was demolished in 2001.
Contributed by
Louis Jimenez
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
There was a Turnpike Drive-In at 127th Street.
The Wometco 27th Avenue Drive-in was one of the longest lasting in South Florida. It was already open by 1957 and closed in 1986, outlasted by the Tropicaire and Turnpike.
Here is a 1980 aerial photo. It looks like they are using the space for retail now.
http://tinyurl.com/y8wg7gz
Wow an air conditioned drive-in what will they think of next.
We had one here the WEIS DRIVE-in in car heat and A.C.. on CT.
Here is a 1969 high resolution close-up photo of the drive-in, courtesy of Earth Explorer and USGS.
Owned by the Wilden Corp. in 1956.
Opened in 1950 and closed in 1986. Screen demolished in 2001. Site is now municipality facilities.
The 27th Avenue Drive-In opened on May 27th, 1950. tiny grand opening ad posted.
Shortly before the theater closed after the 1986 season, Miami Police responded to a call of a 29-year-old epileptic man shot and lying bleeding in the weeds of the theater’s traces during the afternoon hours of August 16, 1986. According to authorities, the victim was born deaf and can’t read or write, but after 11 operations, his ears finally opened to sound. Meanwhile on the other side, the incident goes as follows:
The man, James Justice, and his co-worker Debbie Blankenship were sleeping on the floor inside the drive-in’s boarded-up concession stand when two men walked by, one carrying a .22-caliber rifle. Justice used to live near the 27th Avenue Drive-In with his mother. The gunman ordered Justice to “not move or else he’ll kill him”. Justice asked, “Is that gun real?” The man then said, “You better not run”. The man fired on a corner wall before turning back to Justice. Justice ran around the stand and headed for the street. A bullet tore into his right side, punctured a lung and lodged in his chest. The two men ran away. Both Blankenship and Justice were sleeping in the drive-in because their Miami Beach apartment was too far away from the late-night job they had cleaning a Dairy Queen across the street from the theater.