The Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop is a 14-screen

drive-in theater A drive-in theater or drive-in cinema is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movi ...

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, that doubles as the largest drive-in and largest daily flea market in the world. Local broadcast advertising states it to be Florida's second-biggest tourist attraction and the largest tourist attraction in the

South Florida metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...

. From 1989–2006 the Hanneford Family Circus performed daily (except Tuesdays) in the Swap Shop food court, entertaining the roughly 12 million people who visit each year.

History

On November 22, 1963, Betty and Preston Henn opened the Thunderbird Drive-in Theater. In the beginning, there was one screen (still in use today as Screen 9) — and a reputation for showing adult movies, which concerned passing motorists. Initially the parking lot was divided by a fence to divide the

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

customers from the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

customers. After a 1966 trip to the American West Coast, Henn decided to add a flea market, allowing the region to have a collective rummage sale and encouraging the start of many small businesses in southeastern

. The addition ushered in a period of expansion (to 11 screens by 1980) and increased popularity. An enclosed food court was added in 1979; a decade later, a stage was added and the food court was enclosed and air conditioned. Initially, the circus shared the stage with 1960s and 1970s pop and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

acts, most notably K.C. and the Sunshine Band,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

and

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...

. Expansion continued into the 1990s, when Screens 12 and 13 were put into use, and into 2005, when the former Thunderbird Drive-in started projecting onto its fourteenth screen. On October 24, 2005,

Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part o ...

damaged several of the screens, currently only 13 of the 14 are in use. In addition to the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop, the Henns own and operate two others, the

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

Swap Shop (which closed in 2007), the Lake Worth Swap Shop and Drive-in and Tampa Fun-Lan Swap Shop and Drive-in.

References

External links

Official Swap Shop SiteArticle on www.southflorida.comUpdate and recollections on www.drive-ins.com
{{Coord, 26.13727, -80.19158, type:landmark_region:US-FL, display=title Landmarks in Florida Tourist attractions in Broward County, Florida Buildings and structures in Broward County, Florida Flea markets Drive-in theaters in the United States