Halston Drive-In
1256 Salish Road,
Kamloops,
BC
V2H
1256 Salish Road,
Kamloops,
BC
V2H
2 people
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
A 1994 aerial photo showed a vacant lot, so the Halston did not grow out of either of Kamloops' previous drive-ins. It was built between then and 1999.
You’re right, Kenmore. A 2017 aerial showed the site intact, though a 2020 aerial showed a gutted building. So SearchN was wrong about the date, or the place got fixed, or something. Y'know, when I quote a source, it doesn’t mean I endorse it. ;)
MichaelKilgore - I highly doubt an abandoned building not only got fixed, but they duplicated the graffiti on the walls only to have it burn down again. So, the date’s wrong.
But the “ticket hut” is another matter. I’m not seeing it in any Google Street View before it supposedly burned down. Unless the “ticket hut” was part of the same concession/projection house.
FOUND IT! I found the grand opening advertisement and it went with the name of “Field Of Dreams Drive-In” (of course not the movie) at first. I haven’t checked to see if it later became the Halston Drive-In.
Despite the theater being freaking small, the Field Of Dreams Drive-In opened its gates on June 25, 1995 with a 35x70ft screen and a 200-car capacity which is completely shocking despite being a very small looking drive-in theater. Its first films screened there were “Crimson Tide” and “Johnny Mnemonic”.
Also, here’s more information about Kamloops' Drive-Ins. There were two in total during the golden age of drive-ins:
The Skyway was the first drive-in in the Kamloops opening April 17, 1950 with “The Red Pony” (plus a Bob/Bing short, unnamed cartoon, and a travelogue all about Banff, Alberta). It was last operated by Odeon and closed September 16, 1980 with “Xanadu” and “The Blues Brothers”.
The Sundown was the other Kamloops Drive-In opening June 29, 1954 with “Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd” (no extras) with the installations of CinemaScope. It closed in 1969.
Do any of the advertisements mention a go-kart track?
Because the J-shaped pavement that extends from the back of the projection/concession hut along the north, then the east side of the drive-in is clearly a go-kart track. You can even see the little cars in the 1999 aerial photo.
The “ticket hut” may be the small building next to the entrance road and then end of the J-shaped track on the SE corner of the drive-in. However, it was destroyed well before the concession/projection hut. As it is gone by the 2016 aerial while the hut remained standing for at least another year or two.
Unfortunately there’s no mention about the theater’s go-kart track on its grand opening advertisement, but it did say that the owners of the theater were Jim McCormick and Al Glendinning and it ran second-run films. Otherwise, the grand opening advertisement primarily just has information about its schedule, the projection, sound installments, schedule, capacity, and the history of drive-ins in both Kamloops and America.
Correction on the Kamloops' Drive-Ins history:
The Skyway and the Sundown continued operating into the 1970s right after the Sundown Drive-In was renamed the Odeon Drive-In in 1969. The Sundown did not close in 1969 as I mistakenly said on my previous comment as instead it was renamed Odeon.
Both the Skyway and the Sundown were operated by Odeon. The Skyway became the only drive-in in the Kamloops after the Odeon Drive-In (formerly known as the Sundown Drive-In) closed in 1973.
Also one mistake on the Sundown’s grand opening attraction: Thanks to its schedule of the theater’s first week of operation, “Bugs Bunny’s All Star Cartoon Revue” was added to its grand opening attraction (as it didn’t say on grand opening advertisement).
In 1994, the drive-in did not exist. It appears to have been a parking area for trucks.
By 1999, it was fully constructed and had a go-kart track.
By 2004, it had been abandoned. And given it’s level of disrepair, it appeared to have been abandoned for at least a year and probably longer.
So, if the go-kart track was not mentioned in the grand opening advertisements, it’s probably safe to assume that it did not exist at that time given how much space and investment it took to create it.
Which means that the lifespan of this drive-in was just a few years at best.
As for the other drive-ins in the area.
I found one at 661 Fortune Dr, Kamloops, BC V2B 2K7, Canada. Today, a McDonald’s and a parking area for a shopping center is on the property.
The drive-in itself appeared intact and perhaps operational in 1978, but it was gone and the shopping center in place by 1982.
That’s the Skyway. It opened on April 17, 1950 and closed on September 16, 1980. After closure, the Skyway was demolished a short time later.