Uranium Drive-In
651 CO-97,
Naturita,
CO
81422
651 CO-97,
Naturita,
CO
81422
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Located at Nucla Road & Highland Circle. The Uranium Drive-In was opened on March 13, 1954 with Robert Stack in “War Paint” & Bud Abbott & Lou Costello in “Africa Screams”. It was operated by William Moore & Clarence Batter. It was operated by Clarence Files from August 1960. Capacity was 275 cars. It was still open in 1988.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
Approx. location for this drive-in was Colorado 97 & Binder St.
Nucla Rd at Highland Cir
Naturita, CO 81422
Binder St has been renamed Highland Cirle. Nucla Rd is CO-97.
Odd name!! Why was it called Uranium?
From Wikipedia: “Colorado is considered to have the third largest uranium reserves of any US state”
a few feet west of 120 W Main St, Naturita, CO 81422 is where you can find the restored Uranium Drive-In Marquee. It is NOT on the site of the actual drive-in.
An article from November 5th, 2012 about the sign:
https://coldwarpatriots.org/naturita-co-uranium-drive-in-sign-restored/
A more accurate address for this theater is 651 CO-97, Naturita, CO 81422. This points directly to the drive in itself. Highland Cir did not exist when this theater opened. Part of the circle was the entrance road.
Please update.
The Uranium had its opening on Sunday, March 13, 1954, showing “War Paint” and “Africa Screams,” based on a report six days later in the Nucla Forum. Bill Moore opened the place even though the concession stand was incomplete; its first ad in that newspaper was that March 19 edition. Moore said he planned a double feature every night of the week.
The drive-in was still advertising in 1976, and it stayed on the Motion Picture Almanacs' drive-in lists through the final list in 1988.
the ramps and concession stand still stand
I thought you were right, dansdriveintheater, based on Google Earth images, so I drove all the way out to take a picture of what was left. When I arrived on a late Sunday morning, men were in the process of building something new where the concession stand had been. I missed it by weeks. :(
On the other hand, the sign still looked nice a few blocks away on the main road through town. I uploaded a picture for you.
Boxoffice, Aug. 22, 1960: “The new owner of the Uranium Drive-In at Naturita is Clarence Files, who also operates the Starlite Drive-In at Grand Junction. The former owner was William More (sic)”