Pat's Auto Vue Drive-In

Theatre Road,
Kellogg, ID 83868

415 cars

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Located to the west of Kellogg in Smelterville. Pat Metzger was the operator of the Auto Vue Drive-In when it opened in July 1953. Capacity at that time was 415 cars. It was still operating in the 1960’s.

Contributed by Ken McIntyre

Recent comments (view all 6 comments)

Kenmore
Kenmore on June 11, 2016 at 4:24 pm

A closer address (at least for Google) is Theater Rd, Kellogg, ID. The screen appears to be intact. http://tinyurl.com/hbsnmbj

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on July 15, 2017 at 11:23 am

That’s got to be “the old Smelterville drive-in” that the Smelterville Lions Club operates one night a year (for two years now) as part of Frontier Days. The photo in the Shosone News-Press matches Google’s aerial photo down to the small tree in front of the right side of the screen.

According to the News-Press article, “The Lions drew an enormous crowd from all around the region last year when they held a showing of ‘The Goonies.’ A line of cars reportedly stretched all the way from the old drive-in to the Interstate-90 on-ramps.”

The 2017 one-nighter will be Sept. 9, when they’ll show Stand By Me.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on July 15, 2017 at 11:42 am

The reference books (yes, I know they’re not perfect) suggest a short initial run followed by a revival, possibly by a child of Pat.

Pat’s Auto Vue wasn’t in the 1952 Theater Catalog, but was there in the 1955-56 edition. It was in the 1963 IMPA (Pat H. Metzger), but there was nothing for Smelterville in 1969-76.

The “Valley Ctr. Flick D/I” (G. Metzger) was listed in Smelterville in the IPMA lists from at least 1982 to the last one in 1988.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on January 3, 2020 at 3:38 pm

Boxoffice, July 11, 1953: “SMELTERVILLE, IDA. – Pat’s Auto-Vu Drive-In east of town has been opened to the public by owner Pat Metzger. The new open-air theatre has accommodations for 450 cars.”

kennerado
kennerado on January 3, 2020 at 9:09 pm

As noted above this is still intact and possibly still used occasionally. The concession building and possibly even the ticket box still stand.

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on April 6, 2021 at 11:01 am

they re gone the ticket booth and the concession stand sadly please update

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