Category:Boulevard Drive-In (Allentown, Pennsylvania)

Object location	40° 37′ 14″ N, 75° 27′ 01″ W	View all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap	40.620556; -75.450278

Boulevard Drive-In 

former drive-in movie theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
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Instance of	drive-in theater movie theater destroyed building or structure
Location	Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Street address	556 Union Boulevard, Allentown, PA 18109
Inception	1949
Date of official opening	1949
Date of official closure	1985
40° 37′ 13.08″ N, 75° 27′ 00″ W
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The Boulevard Drive-In Theater (1949-1985) was a drive-in theater, located at 556 Union Boulevard in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Construction of the theater began in June 1949, and it opened in October. When it opened, it was the largest drive-in theater in terms of capacity in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It opened for its first full season in May 1950.

It was originally owned by the Milgram Theater chain, who bought the 12 1/2 acre lot from the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. It had a capacity of about 1,000 cards and cost $240,000 to build. A children's play area was provided with various swings, sliding boards, an electric merry-go-round and other playground equipment for families to take children prior to dusk and the beginning of the film. In the 1960's, children could even take a pony ride around the playground area. A concession stand, with a large patio area in front, was open with a wide variety of refreshments as well as rest rooms. Like many Drive-Ins, the theater was located on a hill, with gravel over the natural turf for automobiles to park In the front of the parking area,

In December 1953, the Boulevard was acquired by the Fabian Theater Chain, which also owned the Colonial and Rialto cinemas on Hamilton Street. Fabian operated it until 1973 when the chain went out of business and it was purchased by United Artists. United Artists installed a new, and wider projection screen and renovated the concession stand over the winter of 1973-1974.

The Boulevard Drive-In closed at the end of August 1985, and the property was abandoned for many years. In 1990, after a series of break-ins, it was found that the concession stand was ransacked and all valuable metal, such as copper, was ripped out. Also one of the thieves was using a torch, and started a fire in the former concession stand. Afterwards, the buildings on the land along with the metal speaker stands were torn down and removed.

In 2013, plans were announced to redevelop the site into a "classic car" exercise site, in which a mile-long track would be constructed to drive museum-class vehicles. The track is not designed for racing, but instead a network of roads designed to test and maintain the cars. In buildings surrounding the area there is a world class restoration shop run by the Flickinger Brothers. The shop specializes in Buick’s and the Buick Club has held at least one event there. Also, sometimes at the America On Wheels museum in Allentown some of the vehicles are on display.

The large projection screen still stands at the site, and is occasionally used for projecting automobile films.