Parkaway Drive-In

Kenmore on March 28, 2026 at 6:47 am

50sSNIPES - This comment from the information MichaelKilgore found which is on the Sparta Drive-In page seems to lean towards a name change.

“How old is it? In 2013, (then-?)owner Tommy Brown told ABC News that the Sparta was built in 1943, so that’s probably it. The 1952 Theatre Catalog lists the Sparta, yet earlier Catalogs showed the Park-A-Way in Sparta but not the Sparta Drive-In. (The IMPAs listed both for a while, so it’s probably not a name change.)”

If the drive-in was built in 1943, it seems likely that it was originally called the “Park-A-Way” and then changed to the “Sparta” Drive-In at some later point, but certainly by 1952.

The IMPA listing both afterwards was more likely confusion on its part. Believing they were different drive-ins for a time. However, given that all other information (location & car capacity) is the same, this to me seems like what happened.

But if you assume the Park-A-Way was a separate drive-in, then the information MichaelKilgore reports makes little sense.

The Sparta Drive-In would’ve had to open in 1943, close in the late 1940s, and re-open again in 1952. Running for decades until appearing to close for much of the 1990s before re-opening after renovation in the early 2000s.

The Park-A-Way would’ve had to open when the Sparta Drive-In closed in the late 1940s, close by 1952. Re-open by 1959 and run until at 1976 until finally being left off in 1982 at least in IMPA.

And all that time there is no evidence of a second drive-in along the highway. So, I’m leaning towards name change.

Kenmore on March 21, 2017 at 10:39 am

I posted this on the Sparta Drive-In page, so I apologize if it repeats here.

A 1951 aerial view of Sparta only shows the Sparta Drive-In which is located on the highway between Sparta and Cookeville. There is no indication of another drive-in along that highway between the two towns at that time which I could see.

Given the odd listings in IMPA NeonMichael cited, including the location and similar size in car capacity, it seems that the Sparta and the Park-A-Way may be the same. Or, perhaps a mistake has been made as there is a “Parkaway Drive-In” located in Maryville, TN.