Skyview Drive-In

2260 Soquel Drive,
Santa Cruz, CA 95065

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Additional Info

Functions: Swap Meet

Previous Names: Encina Drive-In

Nearby Theaters

SKYVIEW DRIVE-IN THEATER PRE 2008

This was a great family drive-in, first opened as the single screen Encina Drive-In on May 27, 1949 with Sonny Tufts in “The Untamed Breed” & Larry Parks in “The Swordsman”. It had a capacity for 440 cars. A second screen had been added by 1971.

Sadly, it was closed in December 2007 and demolished in May 2008. The site is now used as a swap meet.

Contributed by Business Services Group

Recent comments (view all 19 comments)

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on May 12, 2010 at 10:16 pm

Encino/SKYVIEW DRIVE-In parked 440 cars and was owned in 1956 by Calif.Empire Theatre Inc.

GaryParks
GaryParks on February 1, 2011 at 6:31 pm

For the aesthetic record: For the last twenty-five years or so of its existence, the backside of the main (original) screen tower of the Skyview was painted blue, but before that, it was painted in wide, alternating vertical bands of pink and mint.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 26, 2015 at 11:40 am

May 27th, 1949 grand opening as Encina Drive-In as well as the March 15th, 1959 ad for the Skyview Drive-In as well as the April 2nd, 1971 ad for the Skyview Twin Drive-In in the photo section.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 6, 2018 at 10:05 am

Opened with “The untamed breed” and “The swordsman”. 1062 cars. Site is now Santa Cruz Swap Meet.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 27, 2019 at 12:33 am

The May 20, 1949 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel-News said that the new, 800-car Encina Drive-In would open within a week. The theater was owned by Frank Paone and John Forde, in partnership with Trans-Caliornia Theaters, a regional circuit. Paone and Forde had opened the Starview Drive-In, Santa Cruz County’s first, near Boulder Creek in 1947. Paone would manage the new theater.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on September 18, 2020 at 10:08 am

The snack bar building is still there(possibly the bio box too?). Possibly also called Starlight Drive-in?

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on March 1, 2021 at 11:28 am

google lists this swap meet as closed weird as it is definetly open! sooooooooooo

robboehm
robboehm on March 23, 2024 at 2:07 pm

Uploaded a 1954 ad as the Encina.

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