Pioneer Twin Drive-In
1255 S. State Street,
Provo,
UT
84606
1255 S. State Street,
Provo,
UT
84606
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Pioneer Motor Vu Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The Pioneer Motor Vu Drive-In was opened on May 23, 1947 with Dick Haymes in “Irish Eyes are Smiling” & Robert Lowery in “Dark Mountain”. It had a capacity for 500-cars. It was operated by Marvin R. Cox. It was twinned on June 18, 1975, being renamed Pioneer Twin Drive-In with a capacity for 1,200-cars. It was used for swap meets in the early-1980’s, along with movies. It closed on August 11, 2001 and was razed for a housing development.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Chuck,I’m just thankful that it,amazingly,has survived,mostly intact.Yes,SLC once had one of the finest collections of downtown movie venues.Remember TAMPICO,between Main & State,in an alley.That and the Heidelberg,were my favs for dates when coming up from Happy Valley.Were you around when the Sound of Mucus played for over a year on Main St.?
This opened on May 23rd, 1947. Grand opening ad posted.
Became a twin on June 25th, 1975
Today, the local Daily Herald ran photos of “15 fun places in Utah County that sadly only exist in your memories”. One of them was of the dismantling of the Pioneer in 2002. According to the caption, the drive-in “closed in the summer of 2001 after owners Marv and Jeanie Cox sold the land.”
Opened with “Irish eyes are smiling” and “Dark mountain”. First drive-in theatre in Utah.
Pipneer Twin drive-in opened with on screen 1 with “Tom Sawyer” and “The return of the Pink Panther” and screen 2 with “big Jake” and “Bite the bullet”.
Closed on August 11, 2001, exactly one month before 9/11.
Opened with Dick Haymes in “Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and Ellen Drew in “Dark Mountain” (unknown if extras added)
Boxoffice, June 30, 1975: “Marv Cox, owner and operator of the Pioneer Drive-In, Provo, opened the new addition to the ozoner, which now will be called Pioneer Drive-In 1 and 2. The gala debut of the twin facility was Wednesday (18) with "Bite the Bullet” playing in Pioneer 2 and “The Return of the Pink Panther” in Pioneer 1. The two theatres have a 1,200-car total capacity. The new screen area is utilizing the existing snack bar; however, a new projection booth was built and equipped with Ballantyne projectors, Christie lamphouses and Autowinds and radio sound. The screen tower was built out of heavy-gauge corrugated metal."
One one hand, Boxoffice got the twin’s opening date right, June 18, 1975. On the other, it looks like it called itself the Pioneer Twin.