Metro Twin Drive-In
355-357 Waterloo Road,
Sydney,
NSW
2190
355-357 Waterloo Road,
Sydney,
NSW
2190
1 person
favorited this theater
Located in the Chullora district to the west of Sydney near the corner of Waterloo Road and Hume Highway. The Metro Twin Drive-In was built for and operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pty. Ltd and opened on 24th October 1956 with Chips Rafferty in “Walk Into Hell”.
It was taken over by Greater Union in 1971. The Metro Twin Drive-In was closed on 10th June 1979. It was demolished and Chullora Marketplace shopping centre was built on the site.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
According to the mini series Hoges(about Paul Hogan), his first wife(Noeline, i think?) worked at this drive-in, her job there unknown?
I want to add to this discussion by mentioning that the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS)(Sydney) have an article and some more photos of the drive in at https://maas.museum/inside-the-collection/2016/02/09/remembering-australias-drive-ins/. Some of the commentary have a comprehensive discussion of the drive in. The person called Anthony, the first comment is Anthony. That’s me.
Another source about Chullora drive in is in the Sydney Morning Herald, archived at archive.org https://web.archive.org/web/20160213133540/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19561023&id=-NRYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1uQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4546,1887794&hl=en or at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19561023&id=-NRYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1uQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4546,1887794&hl=en (remember to copy for first reference from “https” to “hl=en” and paste in browser and for the second reference copy from “https:” to “hl=en” and paste in browser.
In essence each screen measured 116 x 49 feet giving it an aspect ratio of 2.20:1.
In about 1979, I was a student in the Strathfield area. Our school participated in a walkathon. Part of the route was to walk along the Hume Highway in the direction of Brunker Rd. When walking past the intersection of Waterloo Rd and the Hume Highway, I noticed a large bonfire in the middle of field 1. The huge sign with “Metro Twin Drive In” said where normally the features were advertised, “this theatre is closed”. All left of the screen was a skeleton of steel tubing. Given that the screen sheeting was made of asbestos sheeting, one wonders if the workers demolishing the site took precautions in disassembling the screens. Note that the Skyline drive ins, their screen for example typically used at Bass Hill, North Ryde, Carringbah and Dundas were made of concrete.
Hope that adds a little to the picture of Chullora drive in,
Regards
Anthony
I think it was demolished about 2 years after it closed?
Dear David, I went to school near Chullora. In July 1979, the school had a walkathon where a part of the walkthon was a walk along the Hume Highway from about Roberts Road to Brunker Road. As one walked along the Hume Highway part of the walkathon, the drive-in located in Waterloo Rd could be seen.
What caught my attention during the July 1979 walkathon was: (i) a huge bonfire in the middle of Field 1. (ii) the partial dismantling of Field 1’s screen. In retrospect having read that both screens' surfaces were made of asbestos sheeting would raise health concerns about workers handling asbestos sheeting. (iii) The towering sign at the entrance said “This theatre is closed”.
Most of the land occupied by the drive in became the Chullora Marketplace in 1981.
The other part of the land from the former entrance to the drive-in to about half to a third of the way up from the former Field 1 lay vacant until the early 1990s where a high school was built. Until the construction of the high school, the land was piled up with speaker poles and its concrete foundations.
The plan to sell the drive in started in 1976. In 1976, a tender notice to sell the land occupied by drive-in was placed in the newspapers. I saw the archived advertisement online recently, but regret not saving the link to the tender article.
Thank you
Grand opening ad posted. It’s was the first twin drive in in Australia.
Also opened with “Shark hunt”.
Opened on 24th October 1956 with “Walk into paradise” and “Shark hunt”.
Also known as Chullora Drive-in.