Big Sky Drive-In
200 Holister Street,
San Diego,
CA
92154
200 Holister Street,
San Diego,
CA
92154
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Grand opening ad claiming “World’s largest drive-in” posted.
Way off!
The actual address for this ozoner is 200 Hollister St, San Diego, CA 92154. Not Chula Vista!
This points directly to the entrance road (now Marian Ln).
The theatre itself was in CV. You could NOT enter the drive in from Main St. Verified from Historical Aerials.
Please update.
Boxoffice, April 10, 1961: “The Big Sky Drive-In at San Diego, owned by J. E. Poynter and Wade E. Allen, has been sold to Lou Berman and associates. Berman also operates the Harbor Drive-In at Chula Vista, 101 at Ventura and Sky View at Oxnard.”
Opened on 22/6/1955 with “Son of Sinbad” and “Rage at dawn”.
The Blue Sky marquee posted to the photo page is a different theater – uploading two shots of the Big Sky marquee now.
The Big Sky Drive-In opened in June 1955 at 2245 Main Street in Chula Vista. With 21 acres of space, its car capacity of 2000 made it one of the four largest ozones in the U.S. (Los Aitos in Long Beach held 2100 while the 41 Twin in Franklin, Wisconsin, and the Twin Open Air in Oak Lawn, Illinois, were the same size as the Big Sky). The full-color opening night features were Howard Hughes' Son of Sinbad, along with the Randolph Scott western Rage At Dawn. The stainless steel-filled snack bar was dubbed The Sky Bar, and for years the Big Sky advertised “Always two cartoons!” A “Kiddieland” playground on the property included swings, slides, and whirls. This drive-in went dark in July 1980. An industrial park was eventually built on the property.
Uploaded aerial view 1964. It was called the Big Sky. Must be the wrong picture??
But that is a nice looking marquee!!
San Diego Drive-Ins
Am I missing something? Is this theater the Big Sky or the Blue Sky?
Here is a newspaper ad, circa 1970s:
http://tinyurl.com/nyvl3m
There are aerial views of the drive-in from 1964 and 1980 on this site. Enter the theater address to see the photos.
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