Bel-Air Drive-In - Mitchell, IL
N 38° 45.678 W 090° 04.108
15S E 754721 N 4294370
Extinct in Mitchell, IL
Waymark Code: WM2P71
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/29/2007
Views: 61
This information is taken from the Cinema Treasures website:
The Bel-Air opened in the mid-50s as a single-screen drive-in, situated off the historic Route 66. It was originally part of the Mid-America Theatres chain, based in St. Louis. In the 70s, a second screen was built. At one time, the Bel-Air could accomodate about 700 cars.
Its concession building also housed a tiny indoor seating area, with a large picture window, for when the weather was bad (since it was originally open year-round).
BAC Theatres ran the drive-in from 1982 until it closed in 1987. The Bel-Air was completely demolished by the mid-90s except for its colorful and classy marquee (a large, bright red bell is behind the name of the drive-in), still in fairly good shape.
An industrial park is being constructed on the site of the Bel-Air.
Current condition: Very little remains (signs, speaker posts, car ramps, screen structure, etc.)
Address: Chain of Rocks Rd. Mitchell, IL USA
Web Page: [Web Link]
Rating:
Unknown Name: Not listed
Drive-In For Sale!: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
When logging a visit to a dark or no longer existing drive-in theatre, please try to add one of the following: A picture of you visiting the location or anything historical, an image, flier, newspaper ad, etc. or in your log describe any memories you may have of visiting the drive-in when it was open. If you have information, such as when it opened or closed, and the person who posted the waymark does not, you might consider contacting them so they can add the new info to their description as well.