forums
new posts
donate
UER Store
events
location db
db map
search
members
faq
terms of service
privacy policy
register
login




UER Forum > Archived US: South > Abandoned Lakeside drive in (Viewed 702 times)
dwtaylor999 


Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Abandoned Lakeside drive in
< on 4/13/2011 1:06 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
This is the old Lakeside Drive in theater just south of Cleveland, OK, not to be confused (as if anyone would) with the drive in of the same name that was in Pawnee (It no longer exists).



I can vaguely remember when this theater was still open, but I never watched any movies there. Information on the operational dates of the theater are scarce. One souce thought it was built in 1961, but when I checked out "Huskee-Bilt Structures", their first building was sold in May of 1964, though their trademark didn't come through until 1967, so I would put the construction some time in the mid to late 60's. Huskee-Bilt was a Chicago company which built prefabricated structures and is no longer in existence. Their trademark expired in 1989.







The best information I can find says the theater changed hands several times, but basically remained in operation until 1985. Originally built as a standard drive in with external hanging speakers, it had a 350 car capacity. There was a brief attempt in 1993 to reopen the theater using the more modern FM transmitter technology. The attempt was short lived and the theater closed again in 1994 and has been sitting vacant since.



Someone has at least been keeping the vegetation in check. The structures are faded but still in reasonably good condition with little signs of vandalism. It appears that when it closed, the owners just walked away.



Here's an old photo from 1995. The sign was still intact at the time.



I would liked to have snagged one of the old car speakers, but none were to be found. I'm assuming they were all removed when the conversion to the FM transmitter was completed.

Much of the small snack bar equipment still remained. You could almost smell the popcorn and sweetarts.


















The projector was still largely intact and you can see the old cabling that would have fed the old speaker system and the amplifier that would have driven it.



















Reel storage compartments and splicing equipment.







You can't see it here, but it looked like some clip from one of the Planet of the Apes movies.



There were still paper towels in the restroom.



It's strange that drive in theaters, once so popular in rural areas can now only survive in larger metropolitan areas.







The remnants of the FM antenna.




The ticket booth and sign, now broken.









I was amazed out how untouched the place was, considering it was next to a well traveled highway. It does sit off the road a bit and is hidden behind some other building, so maybe people just don't notice it. Anyway, it brought back some fond memories of my childhood. Nothing like bickering kids, lousy speakers, rain, cold, and B minus movies to make for quality family time.



Ruins, the fate of all cities.
pinkmeowcats 


Location: Oklahoma, US
Gender: Female




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 1 on 4/13/2011 1:30 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Old drive-ins are so cool! I found one around here and it's condition was very similar; closed in the mid-80's and mostly untouched (except from the weather).

fatwax4 


Location: somewhere i shouldn't be
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email | 
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 2 on 4/13/2011 2:20 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
pretty amazing that there are still film reels left, nice find.

instagram

Raticus 

Moderator


Location: Tyler
Gender: Male


Ratus exploricus abandonae

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 3 on 4/13/2011 3:46 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
One of my first jobs was running projectors in a couple of drive ins. Odd thing about this drive in is, there is still an electric meter intact on the main building.

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something.
dwtaylor999 


Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 4 on 4/13/2011 5:05 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Raticus
One of my first jobs was running projectors in a couple of drive ins. Odd thing about this drive in is, there is still an electric meter intact on the main building.


Man, I should have fired it up! lol, there really wasn't any power, I tried the lights and some of the switches. I remember checking out an old, old house, crumbling roof, no windows, and when I flipped the light switch, they turned on. Kind of freaked me out.


Ruins, the fate of all cities.
Dripik 


Location: Carson City, NV
Gender: Male


UE is my nightlife

Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 5 on 4/13/2011 5:16 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Thats some awsome shit. Really love the movies reels and shots of them. I used to go to the drive-in in McAlester all the time. Great set brother.

“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.”

John Hope Franklin quote (X)(DRIPIK)(X)
consecrated 


Location: Connecticut
Gender: Male


Æthereal

Send Private Message | Send Email | 
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 6 on 4/13/2011 11:12 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
This is a nice find. Great job. I love the old film lying around. Did you look through all of it?

dwtaylor999 


Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 7 on 4/13/2011 1:18 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by consecrated
This is a nice find. Great job. I love the old film lying around. Did you look through all of it?


The stuff on the ground was just leaders, though most of the stuff on the splicing board wasn't. I didn't look through anything on the reels, though I can't say why I didn't, time wasn't an issue. Hell, your question makes me wonder what I may have missed, now I'll have to go back and find out, lol.

Ruins, the fate of all cities.
dwtaylor999 


Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 8 on 4/13/2011 1:20 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Dripik
Thats some awsome shit. Really love the movies reels and shots of them. I used to go to the drive-in in McAlester all the time. Great set brother.


Thanks. I know they're not rare, but I like them just the same.

Ruins, the fate of all cities.
RobertB 


Location: Skeeterville, TX
Gender: Male


Maybe I shouldn't be using my real name...

Send Private Message | Send Email | The All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Page
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 9 on 4/14/2011 3:20 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Damn, damn, damn. That board with "$5.00 carload" -- I can see it in my memory clear as day. I learned to kiss at that drive-in, in 1985, in a Chevette hatchback whose back seats folded down quite comfortably. I spent several enjoyable evenings there -- the windows were too fogged up to watch the movie, but for some reason I didn't *even* care. The only movie I actually *watched* there was "Porky's" -- I hated that movie, but my girlfriend thought it was funny as hell, so the windows stayed sadly unfogged.

J'ai toujours fait une prière à Dieu, qui est fort courte.
La voici: "Mon Dieu, rendez nos ennemis bien ridicules!"
Dieu m'a exaucé.
buckybear 


Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 10 on 4/14/2011 11:42 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
That's a refrigerated candy counter. Kept the owners from having to air condition the snack bar.

dwtaylor999 


Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 11 on 4/15/2011 1:15 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by RobertB
Damn, damn, damn. That board with "$5.00 carload" -- I can see it in my memory clear as day. I learned to kiss at that drive-in, in 1985, in a Chevette hatchback whose back seats folded down quite comfortably. I spent several enjoyable evenings there -- the windows were too fogged up to watch the movie, but for some reason I didn't *even* care. The only movie I actually *watched* there was "Porky's" -- I hated that movie, but my girlfriend thought it was funny as hell, so the windows stayed sadly unfogged.


Ha! Great story.


Posted by buckyBear

That's a refrigerated candy counter. Kept the owners from having to air condition the snack bar.


Good catch.

Ruins, the fate of all cities.
mustang_dvs 


Location: Durham, NC
Gender: Male


thePhotosmith

Send Private Message | Send Email | flickr
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 12 on 4/21/2011 4:18 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by dwtaylor999
You can't see it here, but it looked like some clip from one of the Planet of the Apes movies.

http://i593.photob...ide/Drivein045.jpg



Teen Wolf.

(I'm pretty sure, it's the scene in the bathroom, where Michael J. Fox discovers that his father is also a werewolf, hence the plaid shirt and eyeglasses.)


http://thephotosmith.com
dwtaylor999 


Location: Unassigned Lands, Oklahoma
Gender: Male




Send Private Message | Send Email
Re: Abandoned Lakeside drive in
<Reply # 13 on 4/21/2011 4:38 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Aaaah. Good eye.

Ruins, the fate of all cities.
UER Forum > Archived US: South > Abandoned Lakeside drive in (Viewed 702 times)



All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site: UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service | View Privacy Policy | Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 93 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 737053461 pages have been generated.