Centre Drive-In
399 7th Street,
Bridgeport,
NE
69336
399 7th Street,
Bridgeport,
NE
69336
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The Centre Drive-In opened on May 1, 1955 with John Wayne in “The High and the Mighty”. Car capacity was listed at 250. It was a short lived venture which closed on July 30, 1956 with Barbara Hale in “Unchained” & Wild Bill Elliot in “Hellfire”.
Contributed by
Chris1982
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Found It. The drive-in sat north of the river approx. 9698 County Road 99, Bridgeport.
You can still see the general outline of the drive-in and a building sits where the projection booth/concession stand once stood. http://tinyurl.com/zxr6ent
The address listed is incorrect.
The address for this Drive-in is 399 7th St, Bridgeport, NE 69336.
In aerials from 1963, you can barely make out the ramps. This closed long ago. Now tennis courts.
Please update.
Is this it? Motion Picture Herald, Feb. 5, 1955: “Dorrance Schmidt, owner of the Trail, Bridgeport, Neb., is building a 250-car drive-in, and is opening it in early spring.”
Or is this it? Motion Picture Herald, March 12, 1955: “Vassos Brothers, now operating a filling station in Bridgeport, Neb., are building a 30-car drive-in there, for a spring opening.”
Boxoffice, April 30, 1955: “Dorrance Schmidt, owner of the Trail, Bridgeport, Neb., has opened his new 250-car drive-in there.”
Dorrance Schmidt, who was running the downtown Trail Theatre, launched Centre Drive-In Theatre with “The High and the Mighty” supported by “Bugs Bunny’s Cartoon Revue” on May 1, 1955. After two unsuccessful seasons, Schmidt closed the Centre on July 30, 1955 with Barbara Hale in “Unchained” and Wild Bill Elliot in “Hellfire” supported by a cartoon. Instead of reopening for a third season, in May of 1956, the Drive-In concession stand and equipment were offered for sale as the venue was permanently closed.
(And it was only marketed as the Centre Drive-In and not the Center Drive-In)
Let me add a couple of details to dallasmovietheaters' fine work.
In its ad in the May 19, 1955, issue of the Bridgeport News-Blade, the Centre announced, “Due to weather conditions and to allow us to complete some necessary work at the theatre, we will be closed through next week and reopen Sunday, May 29”. A short article in the May 26 News-Blade confirmed the opening date, noting that Schmidt’s indoor Trail would run only on weekends.
The July 28 News-Blade said the drive-in would close as of July 30. “Mr. Schmidt states that the Trail will, from that date on, be operated full time”.