Tulsa landmark Admiral Twin Drive-In burns

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tulsaworld.com/admiraltwinfire: Read more articles from the Tulsa World archives on Tulsa's landmark Admiral Twin Drive-In

A large fire devastated the storied Admiral Twin Drive-In on Friday.

“It’s completely toast,” said Blake Smith, whose family has operated the Admiral Twin since 1987. “There is no insurance on that tower - I couldn’t get any insurance on it because it was a wooden structure -- so what was the Admiral Twin Drive-in is no more. ... Right now, the future does not look good for the Admiral Twin Drive-in.”

At least three vehicles on Interstate 244 were set on fire from sparks or embers from the large blaze, but no injuries were reported, said Tulsa Fire Capt. Michael Baker.

Firefighters also had to extinguish several grass fires on the north and south sides of Interstate 244. A yard in an adjacent neighborhood also caught fire, he said.

Interstate 244 was closed from Sheridan Road to Memorial Drive but all lanes are now open, officials said.

Nine fire companies responded to the blaze, which was first reported at 1:50 p.m.

Jerry McCall was on I-244 when he saw it burning and pulled over to watch.

Flames were shooting 10 stories in the air, he said, and he could feel the heat on the expressway. Embers were floating across the expressway and landing on the south side of the road.

“That’s a lot of memories going up in smoke,” said McCall, who grew up in Tulsa.

The Drive-In that opened in 1951 is in the 7300 block of East Easton Ave.

“I don’t have any idea how the fire started, and the fire department said they wouldn’t be able to tell me for a few days,” said Smith, the owner. “We had some people working in the projection booth, but they said it was all gone in 10 minutes. This is not a good day for me, and it’s not a good day for the city of Tulsa.”

The fire department can say that the fire seemed to start on north side of the screen structure, said Capt. Baker.

“Obviously there is a lot of historical significance. The community will be feeling this loss for a long time to come,” Baker said.

The ticket booths appear to still be standing but are damaged.

“The Last Exorcism” and “Predators” were the movies playing.

The owner said he doubted the drive-in would be rebuilt because the cost of such a venture -- he estimated it would cost as much as $300,000 to build a modern replacement for the screens - could not be recouped.

About an hour after the fire, a Facebook page at tulsaworld.com/saveadmiraltwin titled "Save the Admiral Twin Drive-In" had been created. As of 5 p.m., more than 3,700 people had joined as friends of the page, with several suggesting a fund-raising drive to rebuild the theater.

Next weekend was going to be the final week of the Admiral Twin’s season for this year, with “The Outsiders” scheduled to play, brought back by popular demand after it screened there in April as part of the theater’s celebration of its 60th season of showing movies.

The Admiral Twin Drive-in was more than just the setting for one of the pivotal scenes in S.E. Hinton’s classic novel “The Outsiders.” The theater was also a source of inspiration for the novel, which Hinton wrote and published while still a student at Will Rogers High School.

“Teenagers could pay a quarter and walk into the theater to see the movie,” Hinton said. “When I was 14, I remember going to the movies with a friend, and I saw this incident, where a kind of rough-looking guy was hitting on this girl. When I started working on the book a year or so later, I wrote that scene into the book.”

When “The Outsiders” was filmed in 1982, director Francis Ford Coppola shot the movie on location in Tulsa, including a scene at the Admiral Twin.

“It’s one of the major scenes, and I remember we were there at the theater a couple of days,” Hinton said.

The Admiral Twin Drive-in would periodically show “The Outsiders” - it was scheduled to be shown this coming weekend to close the theater’s season.

Hinton recalled driving home from the airport one evening - a journey that took her past the Admiral Twin Drive-in.

“They were showing ‘The Outsiders,’” she said, “and I happened to pass by right as it came to the scene at the drive-in. So I was watching the Admiral Twin on the screen of the Admiral Twin.

“It was like one of those infinite mirror moments,” Hinton said. “And it just reminded me how long the Admiral Twin has been a part of my life. It’s just so sad to think it’s gone.”

Please check back at Tulsaworld.com as more information becomes available.

Admiral Twin Drive-In timeline

May 24, 1951 -- Admiral Twin opens as the Modernaire with one screen. Tickets were $1 a carload and featured live entertainment by Johnny Lee Wills.

1954 -- A second screen is added to accommodate the crowds.

1980s -- Francis Ford Coppola films part of “The Outsiders” at the drive-in.

2001 -- Admiral Twin marks its 50th anniversary. It had just undergone a $100,000 renovation.

2005 -- Drive-in wins a $35,000 makeover from the Save-A-Landmark contest sponsored by the Hampton Hotels sponsored.

Donations to help rebuild the screens: Attention Admiral Twin Drive-In / Select Cinemas, Security Bank 51st & 169 or P.O. Box 1165 Jenks, OK 74037

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Tulsa landmark Admiral Twin Drive-In burns

A large fire devastated the storied Admiral Twin Drive-In on Friday.

Admiral Twin Drive-In timeline

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