1957: off the list (at a page break, probably a layout typo).The “Drive-In” was in the first Motion Picture Almanac drive-in list in the 1950-51 edition. 1952: Springfield, 600, Commonwealth Ths.1949-50: Springfield, 400, Commonwealth Theatres Ct.1948-49: Drive-In, capacity 600, owner Rush Wilhoit, S.The “Drive-In” was in the first Theatre Catalog drive-in list in the 1948-49 edition. The first appearance of a Springfield MO drive-in in the Film Daily Year Book was the “Park-In” in the 1948 edition. To the rear at the time of its closing there was still a neighborhood. It was demolished in late-October 1978 to build an office complex known as Corporate Square. The final program was a 5-movie Ma & Pa Kettle marathon. It was closed on Octoafter loosing its 30-year lease renewal. It was a wonderful theatre that started out with first run films in the 1940’s, went to second run films in the 1950’s and sadly ended it’s reign hosting the rather benign R-rated features of the 1970’s. It was wired for sound, so you could sit and wait for someone in the concession or cool off if your car was just too hot on a hot summer night. Another somewhat unusual feature were the two sets of outdoor seating on either side of the rose garden fronting the booth. The projection booth was below ground level and featured twin carbon-arcs. The former office became inventory storage. In early-1970, the city manager moved to the Queen City Twin, and the manager moved into the empty office. The original managers office was off the lobby and the city managers office was in the rear with a private entrance. The ceiling was very low, you could reach up and touch it without even straightening your arm. White tiles on the walls, off-white with blue, yellow and red speckled tiles were on the floor, the kitchen was stainless steel. The concession stand, which had been added to at least four times over the years, was dual-laned and simply decorated. Looney Tunes characters were painted on the tower wall facing the playground, along with hardwood free-standing cartoon characters in concrete buckets placed here and there. It had a fully enclosed wooded screen tower of the typical genre, with a white picket fence enclosing the playground in the front. Opened on August 19, 1947, the city grew to surround the theatre on three sides with businesses and restaurants.
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