Groundbreaking for Admiral Twin rebuilding is next month

The owner of the Admiral Twin Drive-In theater in Tulsa has set a date in June for an official groundbreaking to rebuild the double screen that was destroyed in a fire in September, reported the Tulsa World.

The ceremony will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 11, and the public is invited to attend, owner Blake Smith said. The theater is slated tentatively to reopen in mid-August.

At least one Twitter account in Tulsa reported seeing work being done on the site earlier this week.

Smith wanted to reopen by July 4, but says he was unable to do so because of red tape:

Everything from zoning issues and safety code concerns to replacing the burned-up electrical system and fabricating steel for the new tower have delayed the opening date to August. […]

Plans call for not only the building of a two-sided steel screen tower, but also the construction of a new concession stand as well as bathrooms, with heating and air conditioning in the latter for the first time since the Admiral Twin opened in 1951.

The cost of construction and repairs has been estimated at $400,000 at the site where scenes of the Tulsa-based film “The Outsiders” was shot, located north of Interstate 244 at 7355 E. Easton St.

Smith said that with the opening date pushed back, he’s inclined to keep the drive-in open later than ever this year.

Tulsa residents, Route 66ers, and drive-in theater fans donated more than $30,000 to help the rebuild.

The drive-in initially opened in 1951, and the second screen was built a year later. Even as the number of drive-ins in the United States dropped over the decades, the Admiral Twin continued to show first-run movies. The Admiral Twin sits very close to the Admiral Place alignment of Route 66 in Tulsa.

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