Joliet's Hill-Top Drive-In Theater Toppled By Storm: Photos

Dozens of Joliet area residents flocked to the long abandoned outdoor movie theater Monday night to photograph the ruins.

John Ferak, Patch Staff

Posted Mon, Aug 10, 2020 at 8:16 pm CT|Updated Tue, Aug 11, 2020 at 9:31 am CT

Between 50 and 100 onlookers stopped by the Hill-Top Drive-In Monday night to survey the damage. (Photo by John Ferak, Joliet Patch Editor)

JOLIET, IL — Joliet's Hill-Top Drive-In movie theater along U.S. Route 6 had stood for decades, but Monday afternoon's fierce storm and high winds destroyed about 80 percent of the concrete fortress. Between 7 and 8 p.m., at least 50 to 100 people had pulled into the dirt roadway leading into the abandoned theater to snap photographs or make videos of the storm ruins.

The theater was a popular place to watch movies during the summer back in the 1970s.

"I can't believe it's gone," Joliet resident Norma Zambrano told Joliet Patch's editor on Monday evening. "It stood all these years. I remember buying popcorn, the candy, nachos and the hot dogs. These were actually the first movies I ever saw."

Find out what's happening in Jolietfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Although the drive-in theater on Joliet's far east side has not been in use for several years, the back of the property has been used in recent years for tournament soccer games. A semi-trailer that had been parked on the property during the past week was also destroyed by Monday's storm.

Zambrano told Patch she is in her fifties and "this is the first movie theater that I actually came to. I remember this was the first time I saw 'Jaws,' 'Carrie,' 'The Exorcist,' 'Star Wars.' All the movies they remade, this is where I saw them. I must have been 8 or like 9. It's sad that this happened. I was hoping they would bring this back."