Winchester Drive-In
535 Westchester Drive,
Campbell,
CA
95008
535 Westchester Drive,
Campbell,
CA
95008
3 people
favorited this theater
This was a massive drive-in complex located next to Highway 17 in Campbell. It opened as a single screen drive-in on November 23, 1960 with Vincent Price in “House of Usher” & Bing Crosby in “"High Time”. Two more screens were added on March 16, 1967 and another two screens were added by 1980. It was closed as a 6-screen drive-in in 1984 when Syufy Enterprises shut it down. The site remained abandoned for years until 2000 when the City of Campbell allowed developers to build (yet another) high-tech building campus on the location.
Contributed by
Marc Schneider
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
Photos have been posted at Cinematour.
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=9810
Here is a 1968 aerial photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yegblfw
BoxOffice reported that the Winchester opened in 1960. It cost $450,000 to build and was owned even then by Syufy Enterprises.
Originally a twin in 1960 like the Santa Barbara in Goleta. Additional screens were added: 4 by 1968, 6 by 1980 per Historical Aerials. Same marquee as the Century Domes 21, 22, 23 (RIP) on Winchester near Stevens Creek Blvd. Same domed snack bar as Burlingame, Capitol, Coliseum, Sacramento, Santa Barbara, South Bay Carson, Stadium Orange, Vallejo and mini snack bar at Union City (I worked that one myself in ‘85! MEMORIES! 😩).
The Winchester Drive-in originally opened on November 23, 1960, at Winchester and Camden Blvd. The latter was already set to be replaced by San Tomas Expressway so the drive-in opened on borrowed time. It closed on November 7, 1965, and re-opened 16 months later on March 16, 1967 at its location off McGlincy Lane and Union Avenue. Both locations were just off Highway 17, across the freeway from each other, and both were owned and operated by Syufy Enterprises/Ray Syufy.
The original theater had 1 screen, and at the new location a second screen was not yet built (but was being built) when it re-opened. Within months it was increased to two screens, and by the time it shut down in 1983-84 there were a total of six screens.
Grand opening ad posted, claiming the world’s largest screen.
Older Drive-In was at 900 Dell Avenue.
March 16th, 1967, grand reopening ad posted.
Looks like Screen #3 didn’t arrive until 1970.
Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1970: “CAMPBELL, CALIF. - The city planning commission was slated to consider the deferred request of Syufy Enterprises for a zone change and use permit to allow a third screen for the Winchester Drive-In to be installed on property adjacent to the present airer at its mid-January meeting.”
Boxoffice, July 27, 1970: “The city council, by a 4-1 vote, has overruled the planning commission recommendation which had denied the zone change request of Syufy Enterprises to permit the erection of a third screen at the Winchester Drive-In.”
The Winchester was closed abruptly in 1984. It was still popular and would sometimes have lines of cars that snaked through the adjacent neighborhood all the way to San Tomas Expressway. There was also a little known entrance on the left side of screen 1 that could save a lot of time waiting to get in. Screens 1, 2 and 3 were some of the largest in the Syufy chain.