Today’s newsletter is presented by Mission Trails Dentistry.
Hello, Navajo and College Area!
Last week, an Instagram post from the local Majorette bar informed me of a crucial piece of College Area history: the old Campus Drive-In.
The 900-car theater closed in 1983 after 35 years of double features to become what is now the shopping center at the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and College Avenue, outlined by Acorn Street.
However, the iconography of the drive-in lives on.Â
During operation, the drive-in was marked by a giant neon mural — one of the largest in the country — of two San Diego State University buildings, the Cowles Mountain ‘S’ and a majorette wearing something akin to a Native American headdress.
While a replica of the neon majorette can be found at the shopping center on the Jersey Mike’s building, the actual majorette from the original theater sign is located at the College Grove Shopping Center outside the Kohl’s, and the character prevails within the Majorette bar’s logo.
The Campus Drive-In was one of many across the country that succumbed to changing markets and land values, though one author from the San Diego Reader speculated that San Diego’s closures were due to pressures from former mayor Maureen O’Connor.Â
In 1961, 10 years before serving on the city council and 15 years before her mayoral term began, O’Connor’s brother was tragically murdered by a Campus Drive-In snack bar employee. Following the employee’s guilty verdict, the O’Connor family filed a lawsuit against the theater for corporate negligence, but did not succeed.Â
Although San Diego’s drive-ins have whittled from roughly two dozen to one — with the South Bay Drive-In being the last one standing — the College Area drive-in legacy lives on in the neon.Â
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Thank you to everyone who has followed along with the Mission Times Courier these last five months! This is my last newsletter for you all before I start my broadcast career at NEWSCENTER Maine, but don’t be a stranger! Feel free to keep up with my work via via my LinkedIn or my Instagram @calistasjournalism, and I will be sure to keep up with everything College Area & Navajo.
Correction Note: An earlier version of this newsletter misspelled former Mayor of San Diego, Maureen O’Connor’s name. We regret this error.
Calista Stocker
Mission Times newsletter host
Navajo, College Area story spotlight
An ankle sprain sent an SDSU All-American into an injury spiral. Now she’s earned a spot in the NCAA track-and-field championships
By Noah Perkins • Special to Times of San Diego
Jenna Fee Feyerabend capped her comeback in May by winning her third Mountain West heptathlon title and setting a meet record with 5,905 points.
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