Lithia Drive-In
580 Pheasant Run Drive,
Talent,
OR
97540
580 Pheasant Run Drive,
Talent,
OR
97540
1 person
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Crest Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
In May 1954, Boxoffice magazine reported that a new 350-car drive-in was being built on Highway 99 about a mile and a half southeast of Talent OR, on the way to Ashland. It was to be called the Crest Drive-In, and was scheduled to open in June 1954.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog included, under Ashland, the Lithia Drive-In, 350 cars, owners J. Selleck and J. Putney.
A 1960 aerial photo showed an intact drive-in between Talent and Ashland. It was still intact in 1982, but replaced by residences by 1994. The house closest to the site of the drive-in’s screen tower has the address of 580 Pheasant Run Dr, Talent, OR 97540.
Contributed by
Michael Kilgore
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The projection booth sat at the back of the lot instead of the middle.
The entrance to the drive-in was on Creel Road close to where Lithia Way would eventually be.
I’d say the 350 vehicle statement by the owners at the time is a typical exaggeration. The 1976 aerial shows six long ramps which would have to hold 50 cars each just to get to 300. The actual capacity was probably more like 225 to 250, IMHO.
As you said, capacity exaggeration was not at all unheard of. However, note that those six ramps all appear to be double ramps. Counting the poles visible in a very detailed USGS photo, I’d guess that they held 30x2 cars each, which would make 350 a more reasonable figure.
More background, and maybe a little exaggeration.
Boxoffice, July 24, 1954: “ASHLAND, ORE. - Construction on a new drive-in a few miles north of here on highway 99 is under way and should be completed by the end of July according to the owners, Jack Putney and Jim Selleck. The new 400-car airer will be called the Lithia after a local conventional house which burned two years ago. Selleck had served as manager of the former Lithia and Putney was the projectionist.”