Skagit Drive-In
1075 S. Burlington Boulevard,
Mount Vernon,
WA
98233
1075 S. Burlington Boulevard,
Mount Vernon,
WA
98233
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Nearby Theaters
Located in Mount Vernon, Skagit County, WA, hence the name. The Skagit Drive-In was opened on August 16, 1951 and held 500 cars on its 10 acres lot. It was designed, owned and operated by Elden D. Pollack. He also designed a unique central heating and ventilating system which provided it’s patrons cars through a combined speaker and air-flow unit. The unit also wafted aromas of popcorn & hot dogs into the cars at intermissions and after the show.
The two story concession building also contained a snack bar, lounge view room, projection booth and an apartment for the manager.
The Skagit Drive-In was still open in 1955 when it was operated by Ed Snow of the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon. It has since been demolished and the AMC Cascade Mall 14 now stands on the site (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures).
Contributed by
Ken Roe
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
I have records of a drive-in further up north in Burlington, that might be the Skagit drive-in. The address is the corner of Andis Rd. & Burlington Blvd. Which is the current home of the Burlington Outlet Mall. Cinematour also lists the same info.
I have it listed in Mt Vernon 1958-1970
I was a projectionist at the Skagit Drive In for one season in 1978. At the time, it was still owned by Eldon Pollack but was being leased and operated by Richard Babington who in addition leased and operated Pollack’s Lincoln Theatre in Mt. Vernon where I also worked. The Skagit was closed by the very early 1980’s. Confusion about the address is understandable, the theatre was north of the Skagit River (therefore outside Mt. Vernon City Limits) but in an area then mostly farmland and a few scattered businesses. Mt. Vernon was the closer and larger city at the time. Andis Road and Burlington Blvd. (then known as Highway 99) was the location. Strip Mall City today.
The Skagit had Ashcraft Super Cinex carbon arc lamps and Simplex E-7 projectors. It was still using speakers (no radio sound) at the time I worked there.
Seattleprojectionist….have any pictures to share?
Drive-In 54…Sorry, the pictures I had are long gone. It was a pretty place, a grass field that had to be mowed weekly and surrounded by tall Poplar trees. Farmland on the South side, a half dozen or so houses along Andis road on the North side and the right of way for Interstate 5 on the West. The old highway (US99) and our entrance were on the East. The trees did a good job of screening us from the Interstate. The freeway was built just a few yards behind the screen tower nearly 10 years after the theater opened in 1950. The Snack Bar, Restrooms, Booth, Box Offices, and what had originally been a restaurant were all in one two story concrete building at the rear of the field. The Booth, former restaurant, and a two bedroom managers apartment were on the second floor. The restaurant space was unused by 1978 when I worked there. The booth was wall to wall and floor to ceiling glass on the front side. No privacy but great view of the pretty girls in the Summer. Everyone on the field had a good view into the booth as well.
Now Target and Red Robin north of the mall @ 1075 S Burlington Blvd, Burlington, WA 98233.
Please update. AMC Cascade 14 is where the screen used to be.
The July 14, 1951 issue of Boxoffice ran a story in its West news section about the opening of the Skagit. My favorite quote was that it had “a hot air heating system which will also be used as a fog dispersal agent. Fog, traditional enemy of the drive-in in this area, will be driven from the drive-in in much the same manner that is used in landing fields in this area”.
By the time I worked at the Skagit in 1978, the in car heating system had not been used in a few years. I was told that it never worked very well. It consisted of a very large oil fired furnace that fed underground ducts that led to each speaker post. Each post served as an air passage from the underground ducts to the head of the speaker post. The original speakers were custom made and had about a 2 inch diameter flexible rubber tube that was to feed heated air into cars as well as functioning as a speaker. I was told that when the 1973 oil shortage crisis happened and the cost of heating oil doubled in price the heating system was abandoned. The furnace was still in place in a room off the snack bar that also contained the motor/generator set that provided DC power to the arc lamps. To stop a speaker theft problem that this theater was plagued with, ¼ inch phono jacks were on all speaker post heads and all speakers had ¼ inch phono plugs. Patrons were issued a speaker along with their ticket and were expected to return it to an employee stationed at every exit. Employees woule try and note the license number of cars that sped through the exit without returning the speaker and the information given to the County Sheriff. This is the only drive in I have ever seen this policy at.
A date!
Boxoffice, Aug. 18, 1951: “E. Pollock opened his new Skagit Drive-In August 16”