French Village Drive-In
East St. Louis, Illinois1942-1989
Shop French Village Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The East St. Louis, Illinois, theater opened in 1942 under another name and took the French Village name in 1958. Its screen tower had a stage and dressing rooms underneath, and a tunnel carried power, water and speaker wire from the box office to the back of the lot. Browse the styles below, and the full French Village history is further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
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French Village Drive-In History
The French Village Drive-In in East St. Louis, Illinois, opened in 1942 under another name. Publix Great States Theatres built it as the East St. Louis Drive-In, with one screen and room for 500 to 600 cars depending on the listing. It stood on St. Clair Avenue, across the river from St. Louis. It was renamed the French Village on March 28, 1958, when Bloomer Amusement Company, known as BAC, took it over. French Village is the name of a nearby unincorporated community.
It was built with more than a screen in mind. Cinema Treasures says the tower had a stage and dressing rooms underneath it. A tunnel ran from the front box office to the projection booth and on to the back of the lot, carrying power, water and speaker wire. The parking rows were steep enough that cars drove up a ramp to park and backed out to leave.
In its later years the theater added adult films. Sources differ on how far that went. Cinema Treasures says it switched over. A commenter who went there says it was never all X-rated, and that the adult features ran at midnight on Saturdays after the regular show. Customers had to leave, pay again and show they were 18.
The closing date is disputed. Cinema Treasures gives 1984 and Drive-ins.com gives 1992. Road Arch says about 1989, and a commenter recalls seeing films released in 1989 there in what he believes was its last year, by then as an independent. The structures stood empty into the 2000s and were demolished in 2005. Road Arch says the marquee sign was saved and is stored by the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation in Sauget.