They can even order from the concession stand from their phones and the food will be delivered right to their car.”īauer started working at the drive-in at age 14, when her parents opened their first theater “literally in our backyard,” she says. They don’t have to get out of the car for anything. In northwest Ohio, Field of Dreams Drive-In, near Liberty Center, is “definitely seeing an increase in new customers,” says Callan Bauer, VP of operations for Saunders Theater Properties. “Usually we can hold close to 500 cars, but we’re operating now at 50% capacity.” We follow social distancing guidelines and are only allowing one vehicle at each speaker post instead of two,” he says. “We got things in place for the safety of our employees and customers.
“It gives the public a place to go, to be outside and away from their homes, to enjoy a movie.”Įffinger says the Skyview made some changes before opening the gates. “We’ve had nothing but praise about being open,” says Walt Effinger, who, with his wife, Cathie, owns the Skyview Drive-In just outside of Lancaster. It offered moviegoers a safe alternative amid the pandemic, when many other forms of entertainment remained closed. With the Ohio governor’s green light, drive-in theaters were able to reopen in May, as long as they followed certain precautions. “With everything going on this year, it’s one way people can go out in public and still maintain a level of social distancing.”
“There’s an allure to the drive-in movie - it’s classic, it’s fun, there’s a novelty to it,” says Dave Filipi, director of film/video at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus. Drive-in owners are getting creative and making their unique venues work for everything from high school graduations to concerts to corporate meetings. It’s now become an almost 90-year-old tradition.įor more information on show times and the Holiday Drive-in click here.It’s not just movies, either. He said they haven’t slowed down since, with newer movies hitting the big screen and families consistently stopping through. So we were playing older movies, the ‘Jurassic Park’ movies, ‘Beetlejuice’, some Disney movies, and we were selling out,” said Chancey. However, we were fortunate to be given the clearance to open in May of 2020, and we were the only theater open. “When COVID happened, all new movies stopped and their releases were delayed or their productions were delayed. Todd Chancey, co-owner of the Holiday Drive-in, said while the film industry took a hit and indoor movie theaters closed up shop, the pandemic might have been what helped the drive-in business. Now, there’s a about 300 left in the U.S. Numbers show there were about 4,000 drive-ins across the country in the late ‘50s. “Being able to see people walk in and have that kind of like, ‘oh my god, it still looks like this’…it’s kind of a rare find,” said Sams.
Sams works concessions at the theater and wanted to make it her job after growing up going to the drive-in. Now we go here just to like hang out and talk and watch the movie,” said Holiday Drive-in employee Meagan Sams. “I pass that tradition down to my friends. Cars packed with families still line up to watch a movie at the Holiday Drive-in Theater in Hamilton. “When I first started coming they were two, maybe,” said mother Kristen Blue. It’s a tradition he said they’re passing down to their kids. “I went to the drive-in growing up,” said Robert Blue. Statistics show there are 24 drive-in theaters left in Ohioįor the Blue family, the lawn chairs, blankets, candy and the big screen are traditions.
DRIVE IN MOVIE THEATER OHIO UPGRADE
Owners of the Holiday Drive-in Theater said they plan to continue to upgrade equipment to play high-quality shows but are planning to keep the long-time feel.Local drive-in theater owners said movie-goers started coming back during the pandemic, and new movie releases are keeping the crowds coming.
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