Hi-Way Airport 9 Drive-In
326 S. Federal Highway,
Dania,
FL
33004
326 S. Federal Highway,
Dania,
FL
33004
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The address does not really work-the location is now part of the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Tarmac to the east of Terminal 1 Southwest gates.
Wow, what a big and colourful marquee!!
Opened as 5 screens on 3/10/1972 with on screen 1 with “Billy Jack” and “The Omega Man”, screen 2 with “Mash”, Vanishing point" and “Welcome home solider boy”, screen 3 with “Super fly” and “There was a crooked man”, screen 4 with “Easy rider” and 5 easy pieces", no movies listed for screen 5.
Opened on 5/2/1951 with “Who done it”. Opened as a twin on 23/6/1971 with “Vanishing point” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. Opened as a triple screen on 15/10/1971 with on screen 1 with “Your cheating cheat” screen 2 with “The return of Count Yorca” and “Frankstein conquers the World” and screen 3 with “Shaft” and “Pretty maids all in a row”.
Al Alvarez, no I do not but I suspect that it may have been in the mid to late 50’s. Uncle Arthur and Aunt Peg had their first child in 1956. This may have prompted the family to move to their permanent residence, and my uncle to begin his career as an insurance agent. Unfortunately Broward County online property records only go back to 1978.
Do you know when he sold the Hi-way?
Arthur Ashworth was my uncle and the eldest son of Samuel Arthur Ashworth (my grandfather), who also went by the name S. Arthur Ashworth. It was my grandfather who was owner of both the Hi-Way and the Hallandale Drive-in during the 1950’s. My uncle Arthur managed the Hi-Way and for a time lived on the property with his wife. My father, Ken Ashworth, managed the Hallandale Drive-In and we lived in Hollywood.
You can see the close relationship between the two Drive-Ins by the shared flyer shown in the Photo Section…
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24521/photos/121736 (Hi-Way) http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24521/photos/121735 (Hallandale)
The Most Accurate address on Google maps for this D-I is: 50 Terminal Dr, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315 this is the address for one of the main terminals. Most of the land that used to be the D-I is now runways, ramps, and tarmac. On Historic Aerials if you use the road overlays you’ll see that at one point during ongoing construction of the airport perimeter road ran through the center of what use to be the original theater field.
On google maps and historic aerials this maps as 326 N. federal Hwy.
2 screens on June 23rd, 1971 ad in photo section
3 screens on October 15th, 1971 ad in photo section.
5 screens on November 3rd, 1972 Ad in photo section.
7 screens on August 24th, 1973 – Rebranded Airport Drive-In
8 screens on February 8th, 1974
9 screens on March 8th, 1974
This opened on January 5th, 1951. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Used to love coming here with mom and dad. This was located in a heavily wooded area near the intercoastal waterway so mosquitos would eat you alive in the summertime! At the entry gate, they gave FREE coil looking things that that you lit and sat on your dash during the movie! They would smolder and smoke. This repelled mosquitos! The further “back” into the complex you drove, the more mosquitos you would encounter. You prayed that the film you were planning to see was NOT being shown on screen 9! AND, being directly in the flight path of the airport, jets would drown out the sound every 5-10 minutes sometimes! hahaha! I saw Zardoz w/2001 Space Odyssey, Gone in 60 Seconds and many more. GREAT place, great times!
This theater was owned at one time by the late Theater operator and film producer distributor Joe Fink. He was a big roly poly showman with constant cigar. He was known for burying 100s of old prints on the property, most flammable Nitrate film stock.
The Hi-Way is already listed in the 1953 Film Daily Yearbook.
IIRC, “The Last Picture Show” was reportedly saved for the end of the farewell evening, as the other eight screens went dark. (In the 90s, Wometco’s Miracle in Coral Gables would end its movie theatre life with the same feature.)
Miami News article on closing of Hi-Way Airport here.
Not in Florida. I saw it at the Golden Glades Drive-In first run.
I thought the original runs of STAR WARS were shown exclusively in “hardtops” and that any drive-in runs didn’t take place until the summer 78 reissue.
“Star Wars,” during its original 1977 run, played here for 24 weeks.
I believe this was the largest drive-in in the country for a while.
Article on the closing of the Airport Hi-Way 9 here.