Airport Drive-In
Birmingham, Alabama1965-1974
Order Airport Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. Seven tall rods rose behind its marquee, each carrying one letter of the name in its own dark shield like a row of antennas, over a red arrow reading THEATRE. The airport across the road needed the land, and the theater closed in January 1974 after less than nine years. Pick your style below, and the full Airport history follows further down. Down Home Apparel is an American small business remembering the best places and teams of yesteryear, and every shirt is printed to order in the USA.
4 products
Airport Drive-In History
The Airport Drive-In in Birmingham, Alabama, opened on April 15, 1965, across the road from the city's airport, with Tennessee Jamboree and At War with the Army. Cobb Theatres ran it the whole way through. It had one screen and room for 500 cars, on what is now Messer Airport Highway between University Avenue and 37th Avenue North.
The sign was built to be seen from the road. Seven tall rods rose from behind the marquee, each carrying one letter of the name in its own dark shield, with the rods running well above the letters like a row of antennas. Below them a red arrow reading THEATRE pointed the way in. A big wall of red and white lattice stood behind it.
The name turned out to be a warning. The theater lasted less than nine years before the airport it was named for needed the land. It closed in January 1974 and was torn down for the expansion. The airport, once to the west, now lies east of the site. Rental car lots later took the ground where the screen and ramps had been, and those have since closed too.