Since 1951, the Admiral Twin Drive-In has been one of Tulsa’s most beloved gathering spots. Nearly every long-time citizen in our city has at least one great memory there. Others might’ve recognized the Admiral Twin from its role as the backdrop for scenes in Francis Ford Coppola’s movie, S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders.

Today, the Admiral Twin was consumed in a ten-story blaze, incinerating every inch of the massive screen that greeted drivers on Interstate 244.

The owner, Blake Smith, speaking to Tulsa World, “It’s completely toast. 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.”

Photo below by Lee Roy Chapman: