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Fun-Lan Drive-In Theatre
2005 Photo from the Scott Neff collection.
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2302 E Hillsborough Ave
Tampa FL 33610
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| Record #6756 |
Opened: January 10, 1950
Closed: December 2, 2021
Current Use:
Demolished:
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Capacity: 700 cars
Architect(s):
Architectural Style(s):
National Register:
Current Organ: none |
| Also Known As: |
| Previously operated by: Floyd Theatres, Florida Swap Shop & Drive-In Theater |
Information for this tour was contributed by Bob Monaco. The theatre was opened by Carl Floyd and Pete Sones on January 10, 1950, with a single screen. It had had 700 speakers. The theater had a playground for the
children.
Later, a train ride was added. The train ran seven days a week, one to two hours before the movie started and closed when the show began. The track was about 400 feet long and passed by a pond and had a tunnel and a train station. The train station was built by Atlantic Coastline Railroad employees.
In 1985, a second movie screen was added. At some point, a third movie screen was added, and in 2006 the fourth movie screen was added. The flea-market was moved to the Fun-Lan Drive In in 1981 from the Skyway Drive-In Theatre in Tampa.
The present owner constructed a multi-story tower to house the projector for screen 1 in the rear of the existing concession stand. The building that holds the other three projectors are on ground level with an old small, makeshift concession stand in the rear. It looks like the original concession stand.
Screen 4 is the smallest screen, which is on the fence. It sits pretty low. The projector that feeds this screen sits behind a glass opening in the door and is on an extreme angle to the screen. Screen 3 is the original screen with the steel-work construction and a cat-walk along the top. The cat-walk was to give access to the floodlights in the parking lot. Screen 2 is slightly bigger than screen 4. Screen 2 is also at an angle, but is not as much as an angle and it sits higher on the fence than screen 4.
They are using Century projectors and old RCA sounds heads with a platter system. The present owner owns two other theaters; one in Ft. Lauderdale and one in Lake Worth, FL. All three have swap meets which seem successful. They don’t use traditional speakers, instead, they use FM stations to transmit the sound. It seems like there is random parking. The traditional parking is gone; no separation of screen-related parking. The open-air market is under a wing off two sides of the current concession stand. Photos
Photos remain the property of the Member and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Member. |
April 2007 photos from the Bob Monaco collection.
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July 2005 photos from the Scott Neff collection.
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Last featured 2002-12-27. Last edited 12/9/2021.
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