Sunnyside Drive-In
Fresno, California1965-1988
Shop Sunnyside Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. Pacific Drive-In Theatres built it for about 1,600 cars, with equipment for 70mm and Cinerama prints, and its marquee promised the world's largest screen. Drive-ins.com notes that the claim had to overlook at least the Algiers in Detroit. Pick a style below, then read the full Sunnyside history 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.
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Sunnyside Drive-In History
The Sunnyside Drive-In in Fresno, California, opened on May 26, 1965, at 5550 East Olive Avenue, with Cheyenne Autumn and Robin and the Seven Hoods. Pacific Drive-In Theatres built it for size, with room for about 1,600 cars and equipment for 70mm and Cinerama prints.
A trade report on the equipment order described a screen tower 50 by 140 feet. The booth was fitted with Norelco 70mm projectors, and the order covered 525 electric car heaters, double-cone speakers and a concession stand with pizza ovens. The report gave the capacity as 1,750 cars, a larger figure than the 1,600 usually quoted.
It did not undersell itself. Its marquee announced the world's most unique drive-in theatre and the world's largest screen, and its opening ad in the Fresno Bee called it the world's most beautiful too. Drive-ins.com notes that the largest screen claim had to overlook at least the Algiers in Detroit.
A second screen opened on January 31, 1975. The last ad found in the Fresno Bee ran on September 5, 1988, and the lot carried on for years as the Sunnyside swap meet. A visitor in 2002 found the place nearly untouched. The screens, snack bar and marquee were gone by May 2004. One visitor reported in 2022 that the site had become a parking lot for a large warehouse, with the ramps still there.