Airport Drive-In
140 Frederick Lopez Road,
Santa Barbara,
CA
93117
140 Frederick Lopez Road,
Santa Barbara,
CA
93117
3 people
favorited this theater
Related Websites
Metropolitan Theatres (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Metropolitan Theatres
Nearby Theaters
Just behind the Cinema Twin Theatres, the remains of the Airport Drive-In Theatre (first listed at 6201 Hollister Avenue, an address that was changed later to 140 Frederick Lopez Road; the Cinema Twin is on Hollister but Frederick Lopez runs perpendicular to that).
The Airport Drive-In was opened on April 17, 1951 with Bing Crosby in “Mr. Music” & Wendell Corey in “The Great Missouri Raid”. It was taken over by Metropolitan Theatres by 1957. It was closed on September 28, 1986.
The lot is used now for airport parking, but the ticketbooth / gateway still remains, and just outside the far fences can be seen the mounts for the drive-in screen, lingering in the dust and weeds.
Contributed by
MagicLantern
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Oops! Should have put my email address in that last comment I posted.
Here is a January 1980 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2nr66u
The Airport Drive-In at Goleta would be “…completed and ready for an opening any day now,” according to an item in the April 7, 1951, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
Woo-hoo, Bruce Lee poser madness!
Referring to the ad.
worked at the Airport Drive-In around 1963 while attending Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. I remember packing the letters for the marquee in a box and using a rope to pull the box up to the the marquee. I sold a lot of sodas and hot dogs. It was a great part time job. Jeff email address:
Now the parking lot for the airport @ 140 Frederick Lopez Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93117.
Please update.
The Airport Drive-In opened on April 17, 1951. Grand opening ad posted.
Taken over by Metropolitan theatres by 1957.
Closed on September 28, 1986.