Plans to rebuild Admiral Twin announced

TULSA - The co-owners of Tulsa's legendary Admiral Twin Drive-In say they have arranged financing to rebuild after a devastating fire destroyed the landmark.

Blake Smith confirmed Wednesday that he plans to break ground on the rebuilding project in April.

He says that a fundraising effort garnered $30,000 in donations, and the rest of the funding will mostly come from loans.

He plans to close on a loan Friday, enabling the rebuilding to begin this spring.

Flames tore through the screens and left hardly anything but the wooden frames behind in September of last year.

At the time, Smith told 2NEWS that the theater didn't have fire insurance, and he wasn't sure if the facility would be rebuilt.

The Admiral Twin was featured in Francis Ford Coppola's 1983 movie "The Outsiders."

According to Drive-Ins.com, it first opened in 1951 near N. 73rd St. and Easton Ave. as The Modernaire Drive-In.

It was redubbed as The Admiral Twin in 1952 after a second screen was added.