Iowa City Drive-In
1215 5th Street,
Coralville,
IA
52241
1215 5th Street,
Coralville,
IA
52241
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Central States Theatres Corp, Tri-State Theaters
Previous Names: Drive-In, Coralville Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
Located to the west of Coralville on Highway 6, northwest of Iowa City, IA. The Drive-In was opened on May 15, 1949 with Paulette Goddard in “Suddenly It’s Spring”. Car capacity was 300 cars. It was operated by Tri-States Ct. By 1952 it was operated by L. Wegener & Central States Theatres and had been renamed Iowa City Drive-In. The drive-in was closed at the end of the 1980 season. Where the entrance of the drive-in once stood is the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.
Contributed by
Chris1982
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Facts About The Coralville Drive-In:
On October 21st, 1966, 13 Out Of The 300 Speakers Were Damaged In A Single Day.
In 1978, It Was Owned And Operated By The Highway Theater Co. And During The Same Year, The Theater Itself Won A Suit Against The City Itself.
But In My Opinion About The Suit Against The City Though, The Theater Turned Out To Be A Major Changeover 2 Years Later. And They Did As Of September 23rd, 1980; And The Theater However Did Not Reopen The Next Year. The Theater Ended Up Shutting The Gates After The 1980 Season.
What was the suit against thr city about?
I actually do not know what it is about. But I figure it out from an article from the Iowa City Press-Citizen on February 15th, 1978.
I grew up in Iowa City. As I remember the Drive In was in town was surrounded by residential areas. The city wanted them to build higher fences. Seems to me the entrance where the screen was had very high wooden fencing but the rest of the fences were not as high. When I was a teenager we would park on the street as the area behind it was uphill and watch R rated films. The city wanted them to build like a 20 foot high privacy fence where no one could see the screen. I don’t know if that was what the lawsuit was about.
Later I was working at the Campus Theater and the Drive In was closed. At that time there was a big building boom going on in Coralville. I kept saying we needed to build a new theater there before another company came in. I was told that Myron Blank owner of Central States Theaters and his son in law Arthur Stein who was General Manager were so upset with the city of Coralville they vowed never to build there again. They did end up opening the Coral IV there in 1991.
Another thing I remember is they had a big fight with Iowa City. I don’t remember the year but the city came up with new ordinances for signs, they wanted them all flat on the front of the buildings. They told Myron Blank that he had to remove all of the theaters marquees. I don’t know if there was a lawsuit but I know they were able to keep their marquees.
The Iowa City Drive-In, “located west of Coralville on Highway 6,” opened on May 15, 1949, according to the previous day’s Iowa City Press-Citizen. “Work on the theater, the first to be constructed in this area, has been underway all spring.” The drive-in featured individual speakers for each car and held two shows nightly. The opening day feature was “Suddenly It’s Spring” with Fred McMurray, plus varied short subjects.
Please add Iowa City Drive-In as a previous name. It was still listed as such in the 1952 Theatre Catalog, showing a capacity of 392 cars.
Boxoffice, Sept. 22, 1951: “Jim Greene, manager of the Iowa City (Iowa) Drive-In, promoted a home talent show which pleased the audience and attracted extra patronage. The show was staged on top of the concession stand, and Greene reported that the food and sweets sales boomed. Eight amateur acts were presented on a program built around two cowboy singing stars from the local radio station.”