La Grande Drive-In
404 20th Street,
La Grande,
OR
97850
404 20th Street,
La Grande,
OR
97850
1 person
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Granada Theatre, La Grande (Official)
Additional Info
Operated by: La Grande Theaters
Previously operated by: Western Amusement Company Inc.
Functions: Movies (First Run)
Nearby Theaters
One of four drive-in theaters in Oregon that are active, the La Grande Drive-In was opened May 10, 1951 with Lex Barker in “Tarzan’s Peril” and Walt Disney’s True Life Adventure (Beaver Valley". It was operated by Jones Entertainment and Western Amusements.
All the currently operating drive-ins are operated by those who run the Granada 3 Theater, and are open during the summer (or sometimes late-spring).
Contributed by
John Book
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
The La Grande Drive-In has mad the conversion to digital projection. Their website has the drive-in at the bottom of the webpage. It is closed for the season.
The 1952 Theatre Catalog already listed the LaGrande, capacity 350, exec: W.J. Shell. (The 1949-50 edition doesn’t list it.)
The drive-in’s web site said it was purchased by its current owners in 1953, suggesting it was built earlier.
The Grand Opening was May 10,1951
Boxoffice, March 31, 1951: “The Western Amusement Co., Los Angeles, plans to open a new 320-car drive-in in La Grande, Ore., early in May. … The company operates theatres in Coos Bay, La Grande, Baker, Hood River and some time ago bought out the Gamble interests here. A local contest will be conducted to name the new auto theatre.”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1951: “LA GRANDE, ORE. - The community’s first airer, the La Grande Drive-In, opened May 1 under the partnership of W. J. Shell and A. V. Parker. The 400-car outdoorer cost an estimated $50,000.”
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “Car service will be a new feature at the La Grande Drive-In this season. Carhops will take orders for refreshments from the theatre audience, saving them them trips to the snack bar during intermission and performances.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 9, 1954: “LA GRANDE, ORE. – Parker and W. J. Shell, owners of the drive-in theatre, have sold it to Francis Greulich of La Grande and Ted Jones of Santa Monica, Calif. Greulich and Jones own the two La Grande theatres, the Liberty and the Granada.”
It actually opened with “Tarzan’s Peril” (not “Challenge”) as well as Walt Disney’s “Beaver Valley”.