Foothill Drive In Sign

About

The Foothill Drive-In Theatre Neon Sign is the surviving roadside centerpiece of a once-sprawling Route 66 movie theater in Azusa. The Foothill opened in December 1961 as a single-screen drive-in capable of accommodating roughly 1,500 cars and entertained local families and highway travelers for just over four decades. After its final night in December 2001, Azusa Pacific University acquired the property for campus expansion. Most of the former theater disappeared—including the giant screen in 2005—but the distinctive V-shaped marquee facing Foothill Boulevard was preserved, leaving travelers with a highly visible reminder of Southern California’s drive-in era.

The marquee received an extensive two-year restoration costing about $50,000, including new paint, electrical work and replacement of deteriorated materials. On October 8, 2007, more than 300 members of the university and Azusa communities gathered as its neon was illuminated again. Rather than advertising double features, the restored sign now carries university and community announcements while retaining the sweeping red neon, twin message boards and roadside presence that made it recognizable to generations of motorists. For Route 66 travelers today, it is a rare surviving piece of movie-theater architecture sitting directly beside the historic highway.

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