Bellevue Drive-In
Bellevue, Illinois1948-1980
Order Bellevue Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. On July 6, 1963, it hosted the world premiere of Blood Feast, generally called the first splatter film. Patrons were reportedly given plastic cups in case they got sick. Browse the styles below, and the full Bellevue history is further down. We are an American small business bringing back the signs and logos of places and teams that are long gone but remembered fondly.
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Bellevue Drive-In History
The Bellevue Drive-In in Bellevue, Illinois, just outside Peoria, opened on August 29, 1948, with Pirates of Monterey. It stood on Plank Road, on Route 116, and held about 750 cars at first, then the most of any drive-in in downstate Illinois. Chicago exhibitor Stan Kohlberg took over in 1960 and nearly doubled the lot.
On July 6, 1963, a village of about 1,500 people got a world premiere. Blood Feast, generally called the first splatter film, opened here. Producer David Friedman reportedly chose a small-town drive-in to stay out of reach of big-city critics, and Kohlberg had a business tie to him and director Herschell Gordon Lewis. The American Film Institute's catalog says patrons were given plastic cups in case they got sick.
By the 1970s the Bellevue ran mostly adult films. On May 22, 1975, lightning was blamed for a fire that did about $75,000 in damage. On July 5, during repairs, a second and smaller fire was likely arson. It reopened that November and kept the same policy. It appears to have closed after a triple feature on September 14, 1980.
The theater was demolished for a Kmart, which built a store and then never opened it, according to Cinema Treasures. The building later housed other businesses, and a roofing company has been listed at the site.