Parkade Drive-In
601 Business Loop 70 West,
Columbia,
MO
65201
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Opened on March 27, 1953 with Jeff Chandler in “Flame of Araby”. The Parkade Drive-In was located along what was originally Highway 40 (Now Business Loop 70) on the northwest edge of Columbia. The theatre was situated in a depression with the screen facing south. I attended two films there, “No Time For Sergeants” and “The Ten Commandments”, in the late-1950’s.
The construction of Interstate 70 took place a few yards north of the screen and was probably responsible for the drive-in’s closing on October 30, 1960 screening Kirk Douglas in “Man Without a Star” & Jeffrey Hunter in “The Way to the Gold”. A few years later construction began on Parkade Plaza, which now sits where the drive-in was located.
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The map is incorrect; it looks like the peg is at 601 East, and should be 601 West, which places it near Parkade Blvd.
It parked 410 cars and was owned in 1956 by Herbert Jones.
From BoxOffice, March 27, 1954: “COLUMBIA, MO. – The Parkdale Drive-In on U.S. 40 west of the city limits is being opened for the season by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Jeans.”
The July 4, 1953 issue of Boxoffice ran a two-page spread on the Parkade, focusing mainly on the T-shaped apartment home that Herbert Jeans built for his family on the second floor of the drive-in’s concession and projection building.
“Supervising the entire construction himself, Herbert Jeans broke ground for the Parkade, situated on 10 acres, on September 29, 1952, and opened the theatre March 27, just less than six months later.”
Grand opening ad posted.
Opened with “Flame Of Araby” (unclear if any short subjects added).
The Parkade Drive-In closed for the final time on October 30, 1960 with “Man Without A Star” and “The Way To The Gold” along with a cartoon, and was demolished the following year to make way for the Parkade Plaza Shopping Center (which began construction following major original plans to the shopping center itself in January 1962).