Sky-Vue Drive-In
2855 Park Avenue,
Memphis,
TN
38016
2855 Park Avenue,
Memphis,
TN
38016
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Firms: Northern, Perrell & Windrom
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Located in Midtown in the Orange Mound neighborhood of Memphis. The Sky-Vue Drive-In opened on June 10, 1949 with Bing Crosby in “Pennies From Heaven”. It was built and operated by Dave Lebovitz and his brother Abner Lebovitz who also operated the Lamar Drive-In in Memphis and the Sunset Drive-In in West Memphis. It had a capacity for 750 cars, and apparently there was a heavy walk-in patronage, as 700 seats were provided in front of the screen. There was concession stand in the base of the screen, as well as one in the centre of the lot. Another facility was a playground.
Closed in 1972. The Sky-Vue Drive-In was actually an ‘in-town’ drive-in. Much of the neighbourhood where it was located was developed before 1949. At the edge of an African-American neighbourhood, it was built for white patrons.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Do you know about where this was located? (Which “main highway” ?)
The original operator at opening was H.H. Roth of the Sky-Vue Theatre Corp. Hoping someone local will know which ‘main highway’ it was located on.
It was later operated by Dave Lebovitz along with three indoor and two other drive-in theatres. All served the “colored” community.
Park Avenue has no highway number although it is an important thorofare. It begins at a fork from Lamar Ave. and veers in another direction. The fork is near South Parkway and Park Avenue stretches from midtown Memphis to the border of Germantown at which time it changes its name to Poplar Pike and continues east for a long way thereafter.
Some sources indicate that it also operated under the name Skyline Drive-In.
I used to live on Beverly street right behind the drive in. It was surrounded by vacant fields back then. As kids we would walk thru the fields after dark and crawl under the fence. We’d grab a speaker off the stand and sit on the ground to watch the movie. Never got caught. The entrance was off Park Ave. between Pendleton and Haynes. Played on the playground many times. Later as a teenager, me and my best friend would double date there. That would have been back in 1961-64. Good memories.
Today, Melrose High School sits on the property, but you can still see the old entrance road, some of the ramps, and the foundation for the marquee. http://tinyurl.com/hnmncy9
There was a two-page article about the new Sky-Vue in the Aug. 6, 1949 issue of BoxOffice. The drive-in cost $300,000 and had a section of 650 seats for walk-in patrons down near the screen. The Sky-Vue was managed by Bob Kilgore.
The Sky-Vue Drive-In opened on June 10th, 1949, and closed in 1972. Grand opening ad posted.
better quality:
Sky-Vue Drive-In opening 10 Jun 1949, Fri The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) Newspapers.com
A May 2021 Google Street View shows construction on the northern end of the property. It looks like duplexes, but could be something else.
Regardless, the new construction has wiped out the remnants of the drive-in.