What happened to the Croydon drive-in cinemas?

Eastern Melbourne was home to the first Village theatre.

Matthew Sims
April 08, 2026

The old Croydon Drive-in Cinema was once the hub of Melbourne’s eastern entertainment scene.

Now, the site on Maroondah Highway hosts a run-down abandoned restaurant, fast food stops and a pub – with plans for further development unclear.

Left largely vacant for close to three years, what does the future look like for one of the east’s former amusement landmarks?

🗓️ The history: The Kirby family opened the theatre on what was then known as Whitehorse Road in January 1955. It was the first cinema to fall under the Village Cinemas branding – now known as Village Roadshow, a multi-million dollar company running cinemas and theme parks across the country.

Village got its name from the nearby Croydon Village Shopping Centre.

At 75 feet high, the initial screen catered for 741 cars. In 1982, Village received a second screen from the closed Moorabbin drive-in cinemas, with a capacity of 454 cars.

The drive-in closed in August 1990, with both screens dismantled within 24 hours.

Village auctioned off a range of memorabilia from the cinema’s history, with the site then subdivided and snatched up by fast-food outlets and housing developers.

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The complex opened on Boxing Day 1977.

🥳 The heyday: The Croydon site was not the first drive-in theatre in Australia – that was the Skyline in Burwood in February 1954 – but it was quickly celebrated as a novel place for young families to visit.

A 1955 piece in the Argus reflected that the attraction for many was the “easy atmosphere of informality”: “You can wear slippers; make loud comments to your heart's content; go without a shave; do your knitting.”

The Croydon site also set itself apart from its competitors by offering a swimming pool, dance floor, mini-golf course, dining options and an amusement park.

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The four-cinema business is nearly 20 years old and plans to keep on screening for years to come.

🍕 New names, same buildings: The site became home to a range of family restaurants, including Pizza Hut and Sizzler.

The Sizzler building later became an Italian restaurant, but due to increasing rent and operational costs, the site closed in September 2023 and is now an abandoned shell covered in graffiti.

According to a real estate listing, the site was leased for development in November 2024, with plans to construct a 100-place childcare centre behind a proposed drive-thru restaurant. The Eastern Melburnian has contacted real estate agents to seek comment from the current owners.