Lanesboro Drive-In
379 N. Main Street,
Lanesboro,
MA
01237
379 N. Main Street,
Lanesboro,
MA
01237
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previous Names: Sunset Park Auto Theatre, New Sunset Park Auto Theatre, Sunset Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The Sunset Park Auto Theatre was opened in 1947. On August 24, 1948 it reopened as the New Sunset Park Auto Theatre. In 1950 it was renamed Sunset Drive-In This was a drive-in theatre located in Lanesboro, MA. which for many years played adult movies. In 1979 under new owners it was renamed Lanesboro Drive-In and screen family movies. Now long closed, and in a heavily dilapidated state. The property was for sale as of 2005. The site is now sports fields.
Contributed by
James Morris
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Biked by here the other day en route to Mt. Greylock’s summit and caught this drive-in. It’s on the left side just after Lake Pontusac and right before the town center. The ticket booths are still in front but the bulk of the property has fill on site. Must have been cool with the lake behind it, cooling off the patrons.
379 N Main St, Lanesboro, MA 01237
The above address will map accurately to the location of the drive-in, which is visible on Google Earth using historic aerial imagery.
There are several pictures of the remains of this drive-in on its gallery page at Drive-in.com: http://www.drive-ins.com/gallery/matsuns
It appears athletic fields have been built over this drive-in.
Began in July of 1947 as the Sunset Park Auto Theatre. Major improvements led to a grand re-opening as the New Sunset Park Auto Theatre August 24, 1948. In 1950, the theatre changed to its final name of Sunset Drive-In Theater.
The Sunset’s 30th year proved to be its most challenging. A back tax collection issue led to the ozoner failing to get a license to operate in April of 1977. Once that was resolved in early May, the Sunset was back in business. But playing X-rated and R-Rated fare at despite promises to have at least one family feature a month, the Sunset was not a beloved 30-year old member of the community. In December of 1977, that came to a head when the country district attorney ordered troopers to seize the films, “Hot Shots” and “The Double Exposure of Holly” as obscene.
The theater would soldier on, close standing vacant for a period, and then the drive-in land owner would offer the Sunset for the Bill Laston Memorial Park.
It may be a park now, but the Google Street view from August of 2017 shows what appears to be the marquee still standing and the building that housed the projection booth has either been repurposed or something built exactly in the same spot.
The concession building is definitely still there, probably used for equipment storage for the sport fields or a club house/facility.
Boxoffice, Jan. 8, 1979: “William and Marjorie Baumgartner of Dalton, Mass., have purchased complete properties in Lanesboro on which are located the Pittsfield and Sunset drive-ins. The underskyers were previously owned by Cates Enterprises of Cambridge. The Sunset will be renamed the Lanesboro Drive-In and will be devoted to family entertainment.”