Skyview Drive-In Living History

July 8, 1949 the Skyview Drive-In opened in Belleville, Illinois. Their first movie was On Our Merry Way, a romantic comedy from 1948. They had one screen and a car capacity of 500. The Drive-In was built from the ground up and owned by the Boomer Chain. The theater was painted "Bloomer Pink" when it was originally built, a color chosen by Florence Bloomer. This coloring remained as a unique

characteristic of the theatre until June 1981 when it was repainted. 

 

The creation of the CinemaScope; an anamorphic lens series used for shooting widescreen movies, in 1953 resulted in the Drive-In widening their screen to accomodate such new features. In the spring of

1955 a tornado hit and destroyed the 60 foot screen and caused massive damage to their playground. 

 

 

The replacement screen that was built was 115 foot. This screen suffered extensive damage, as did the playground, when a wind storm hit  in 1981. Shortly after rebuilding the first screen they opted to build another screen as well, increasing their screen count to two and car capacity to 700 cars. They converted to digital projection in 2013. They are open seven days a week during their season which spans from April through October. The theater remains under the ownership of the Bloomer chain to this day. 

 

Skyview Drive-In Theater, IL 62226

Movie showtimes, pictures, history and much more information about Skyview Drive-In Theater in IL 62226

Drive-ins.com is not affiliated with Skyview Drive-In Theater. The information above is provided as a free service; we encourage you to contact Skyview Drive-In Theater directly with any issues, concerns, or suggestions that are specific to them.

The database is a repository of information from many sources: our own research, submissions from visitors like yourself, as well as published sources. As a result, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of all of the information. However, updates and improvements are being made all the time.