February 15, 1990 This Fire reported at 1640 hours. Firefighers on scene for over 6 hours. Crews laid over 4000 feet of hose as there were no hydrants anywhere near there. St. James, Hauppauge, Nissequogue, Centereach, Mt Sinai and Middle Island all respond. Steve Gillan was Second Assistant Chief and was the OIC. The building was vacant at the time and slated for demolition. The theater was filled with wood, debris, the seats, etc. The fire was fought from the exterior. Smithtown Highway Dept used payloaders to pull the building open so the fire could be extinguished. This was the 4th fire on the property in the past 2 months. The others were all outside rubbish. The theater property was located on Middle Country Road, just east of Route 347. It is
The Smithtown All Weather Drive-In was the second largest drive-in in New York with the largest being the Johnny All Weather Drive-In located in Copiague. The Smithtown All Weather Drive-In had a capacity for 2,500 cars and it also had an indoor theater. It was opened on May 29, 1962 with James Stewart in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. It was operated by Associated Prudential Theatres. Later it was another UA owned theater. It had one outdoor screen and one indoor screen. It was closed in 1985
Article in 2/22/1990 Smithtown News
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