After a preview for invited guests the night before, the official grand opening of the Corral was April 25, 1952, according to a note printed in the following week’s Fort Lupton Press. Mayor Fred Willmer “pushed the switch for the opening ceremony.”
Found it! Thanks to some help in the Hudson clerk’s office, I spotted the old Corral in a 1953 USGS aerial. Ironically, the new highway mentioned in the 1960 note above just missed the Corral, which should have still been accessible from the old highway / new frontage road, so now I really don’t know when the Corral closed. Anyway, the business that’s on that site now has the address of 22303 Interstate 76 Frontage Rd, Hudson, CO 80642.
The Corral opened in the spring of 1952. On May 3, 1952, Boxoffice wrote, “M. H. Philpson (sic) has opened his new 250-car Corrall (sic) Drive-In at Hudson, Colo., which opens this town to films.”
“M. Phillipsen will attempt to operate the Coral (sic) Drive-In at Hudson, Colo., for one more season. Construction of a new highway will cut off access to the drive-in area.” — Boxoffice, March 28, 1960
After a preview for invited guests the night before, the official grand opening of the Corral was April 25, 1952, according to a note printed in the following week’s Fort Lupton Press. Mayor Fred Willmer “pushed the switch for the opening ceremony.”
Found it! Thanks to some help in the Hudson clerk’s office, I spotted the old Corral in a 1953 USGS aerial. Ironically, the new highway mentioned in the 1960 note above just missed the Corral, which should have still been accessible from the old highway / new frontage road, so now I really don’t know when the Corral closed. Anyway, the business that’s on that site now has the address of 22303 Interstate 76 Frontage Rd, Hudson, CO 80642.
The Corral opened in the spring of 1952. On May 3, 1952, Boxoffice wrote, “M. H. Philpson (sic) has opened his new 250-car Corrall (sic) Drive-In at Hudson, Colo., which opens this town to films.”
“M. Phillipsen will attempt to operate the Coral (sic) Drive-In at Hudson, Colo., for one more season. Construction of a new highway will cut off access to the drive-in area.” — Boxoffice, March 28, 1960
M. Phillipson visited Denver in 1960 on behalf of the Corral, per an Aug. 1, 1960 mention in BoxOffice magazine.
Listed in (at least) the FIlm Daily Yearbooks of 1954, 1956 & 1964.
Anything anyone can contribute about this theatre would be extremely helpful and most appreciated!!
Listed in various theatre catalogs from 1953 to 1965, parking capacity was 200 cars.