Eastern Drive-In
U.S. 25,
Richmond,
KY
40475
U.S. 25,
Richmond,
KY
40475
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The Buccaneer Drive-In is located about 3 miles north of Richmond on HWY 25. And while a 1965 aerial clearly shows the drive-in, a 1956 aerial doesn’t show any drive-in that I can see along HWY 25 in the vicinity.
Now, maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but with all that open farmland north of Richmond on HWY 25, a drive-in no matter its shape should stand out.
This may be relevant. The Oct. 23, 1961 issue of Boxoffice included an ad from an auction company for a 350-car drive-in “located 3 miles N. of Richmond, Ky. on U. S. 25 in Madison County / Due to the death of a member of the corporation, this Drive-In Theatre will be sold at absolute auction. It is improved with a Steel CinemaScope Screen Tower, modern and efficiently equipped concession building, RCA equipment, and is situation on 16 acres of land.”
Since I’m always looking for (or inventing) connections, maybe one of the Redas passed away, then the future Eastern owner bought the place. The dates and location match.
Then again, here’s the caption to a small photo of a crumpled screen that appeared in the Aug. 15, 1966 issue of Boxoffice: “The screen tower at the Eastern Drive-In, Richmond, Ky., was blown down and damaged July 14 in gale-like winds. The drive-in is managed by Mose Reda, a 40-year veteran of the theatre business. His son Tony is manager of the Michigan Drive-In at Detroit and a brother Don is manager of the Jolly Roger outdoor theatre, also in Detroit.”
The May 4, 1962 issue of the Eastern Progress, Eastern Kentucky State’s student newspaper, included an ad for “Eastern Drive-In Theatre / (Formerly Reda Drive-In)”. The ad said the Eastern would open for the season on May 10.
Ads for the Eastern described its location as “2½ miles North of Richmond on U.S. 25.” The Eastern advertised in the Progress through at least May 20, 1966, the last ad I could find.
The Exhibitor, May 24, 1950: “Arthur C. Craig opened the new Lake Carlisle Drive-In, Richmond, Ky.”
The Exhibitor, June 21, 1950: “ The new Lake Carlisle Drive-In at Richmond, Ky., opened on June 14.”
(I would interpret those two notes to say that, although it was scheduled to open in May, the Lake Carlisle really opened on June 14, 1950.)
The huge list of 1950 drive-in projects printed in the Feb. 17, 1951 issue of Boxoffice indicated that the Lake Carlisle had opened in 1950. It was listed with a capacity of 500 cars and owned by Arthur C. Craig.
The Exhibitor, March 12, 1952: “Ernie Reda, recently released from the army, is managing the Reda Drive-In, Richmond, Ky.”