Drive-in movie night at Bullets and Broadheads. Photo: Shane Clausing

By Shane Clausing

Drive-in theatre

Organizers hoping to bring back drive-in theatre

May 3, 2020 | 7:00 AM

The excitement surrounding a drive-in style movie in Grande Prairie last week became quite obvious.

On Friday, April 24, over 100 vehicles showed up to the parking lot of Bullets and Broadheads Indoor Shooting Range, for a chance at a socially distanced movie night out.

The event, put on by Echo AVU, the Revolution Auto Group and Bullets and Broadheads, was initially planned to host films on both Friday and Saturday of that weekend.

Despite the anticipation, the setup was allowed to go ahead on Friday with approval from Alberta Health Services for one night only. As for future movie nights, AHS said those would have to be put on hold until proper guidelines could be set to meet with public health mandates.

The disappointment, and understanding, from that decision is not unique to Grande Prairie, though, as similar plans were also being made elsewhere in province.

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That includes at the Whistle Stop Café in the Central Alberta hamlet of Mirror, which had been hosting its own drive-in movie nights in April. That drive-in was also eventually put on pause by AHS until public health mandates could be met.

However, on Thursday night, Chris Scott, the owner of the Café, posted on Facebook that Alberta Health Services was giving them the go-ahead to resume their popular series of drive-in movie nights.

It is unknown when they will return, but AHS told him that they will soon be releasing rules and regulations.

Back in Grande Prairie, Lionel Robins, the C.E.O. of Revolution Auto Group, mentioned that hearing the news out of Mirror was encouraging and it gives him and his partners some hope about having the drive-in theatre return to the Swan City.

He says if AHS gives the partners the green light, they are willing to give it a go and adds that they’ve learned a few things from their first attempt.

“Our goal is to set-up a more permanent location, with the thought being to go to Evergreen Park. The set up would be so we can have 300-400 vehicles in one evening and run it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from now until the end of the summer.”

Robins says that they do not want to profit off the, if they can he wants the drive-in theatre to help charities and non-profits in the community.

“The thought is to donate any proceeds to them, they obviously have a lot of holes in their fundraising efforts.”

Robins added that a few other local businesses have also stepped up to the plate and have offered resources to help make the theatre a success.

If the drive-in theatre can move ahead and is a success, it might also host more than just movies. Robins tells EverythingGP that a high school in the area has contacted him about potentially having a drive-in theatre style graduation at the park.

The hope is to get the drive-in theatre back up and running by next weekend if AHS allows it. AHS officials have said they will be reviewing drive-in movie events on a case by case basis in an effort to find ways to let them take place.