M-78 Twin/Triple Drive-In Theater - Lansing Michigan

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M-78 Twin/Triple Drive-In Theater

Name: M-78 Twin/Triple Drive-In Theater Street: 6385 Newton Rd at M-78

City: Lansing State: MI Zip: 48906 Phone:

County: Ingham

Operator: National Amusements / Redstone

Open: 1969 (11-7-69)

Closed: 1992 (9-6-92)

Capacity: 1000

Status: Closed

Screens 3

Owner History N/A

Web Address: N/A

Notes: 3 Screens

Number of visits to this page since February 23, 2007: 4677

Click here to show pictures only


Video Clip	The M-78 Graveyard - the whole place as it is today - in ruins!

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Entry Date: 5/18/2010 - MichiganDriveIns.com: The M-78 Drive-In screens were removed in November, 1999. The remains of the drive-in and the Super Cinemas indoor theater were both demolished in November 2008. Also, the M-78 was never owned by Butterfield. It was built by Redstone Theatres (National Amusements) in 1969, and they still own the property today.

Entry Date: 5/18/2010 - Don: This theater has been demolished. I don''t know exactly when, but I believe that it happened last fall.

Entry Date: 2/7/2009 - Doug:
Update, I allmost forgot one very important thing, at the time I was working there, M-78 Twins was the second largest drive-in the world, maesuring from camera to screen and the size of the screen. There was a Drive-In in New york that took First Place the Biggest!

Till next time.....

Entry Date: 2/7/2009 - Doug:
Hey Everyone;
First I would like to say this is one Hell-of-a-websit.
Been surf''in it for two days now and still not done.
I was an employee at the M-78 when it was the twins back in 74-75.
At that time there was a thing called in car heaters and it was my job to make darn sure they were workin. They were open year round and if anyone remembers, those were some cold winters.
We also had to install cables on the Speakers to asure no theft would accure.
If my memeroy is right, the place was owned by Butterfield Theaters at the time. I also worked at the Lansing Drive-In the sumer of 74 repairing speakers and such. Once again I want to thank who ever is responseable for this website, It''s been a blast from the past.

Entry Date: 6/21/2007 - Joel: As of June 2007 Super Cinemas and M78 twin drive in is still standing.
I drive by it a lot and wonder what it would be like if it were open today.
Please if you have any photos or any information at all please submit it because I am very interested in hearing more about this theatre''s story.

Entry Date: 2/7/2005 - Pat Pixley: M-78 Has 3 weeks left till sold and will probably be torn down.

Entry Date: 1/6/2003 - WaterWinterWonderland: AMAZING!
A closed indoor cinema and 3 screen closed Drive-In on one lot!
Offices, ticket booths, driveways, parking, huge snack bar.
A must see for the theatre enthusiast, hurry though because lot has been sold to developers for homes.

Entry Date: 1/6/2003 - Drive-Ins.com: The M-78 Twin Drive-In Theater opened as a year-round theater on Friday, November 7th, 1969. It was the second of three Red Screen/Blue Screen themed drive-ins opened by National Amusements/Redstone Theaters in the late 60s-early 70s. The first to open in May, 1969 was the Cascade Twin in Grand Rapids. The third was the Miracle Twin in Flint, which opened in February, 1973. The Cascade was closed and demolished, the Miracle Twin remains open in 2001. The M-78 Twin became a triple in 1977 when a third "green" screen was added, using a portion of the blue screens field. A fourth screen was planned at the same time, but was never built. The M-78 Drive-In became a twin again in 1992 when the green screen and field were removed to allow for the addition of a Super Cinemas multiplex indoor theater. The M-78 Twin was scheduled to reopen as usual in May,1993 as shown in the photo of the marquee, it never did. The M-78 has sat idle since then. The screens were demolished on November, 17th, 1999, and the Super Cinemas indoor theater closed in July, 2000. The M-78 ticket booths, snack bar, office, and the Super Cinemas all remain standing as of November, 2001. Supposedly the property has been sold, and is scheduled for residential development.
Ron Gross/

Entry Date: 1/6/2003 - Drive-Ins.com: I live right down the road from the M78. Its been shut down since long before we moved here. We drove out to the site this week. There are no fences and you can just walk around the site as you please. The screens are gone, as are the poles. The ticket booths are pretty smashed up. The concession area is boarded up, but one set of boards was down, so it was open if you wanted to walk in (we didnt). The concession building is a huge building that must have been beautiful when it was operating. Its glass all of the way around with a very modern appearance. The amazing thing is how much the field has grown up. The weeds had taken over all of the field and were encroaching on the concession and ticket buildings. Its very strange to walk around the site. Alas, soon it will be gone to residential development. It was so sad to see the waste there on that site.
Charles Owen

Entry Date: 1/6/2003 - MichiganDriveIns.com: National Amusements built the Super Cinemas at the front of the M-78 Drive-In property. Follow the drive to the right for the indoor and to the left for the outdoor