THUNDER BAY – Drive-in movies are returning to Thunder Bay.
The Walleye magazine on Monday announced it has formed a partnership with Interstellar Outdoor Cinema to bring movies to the city at locations throughout Thunder Bay beginning in late June.
Earlier in the day the province gave the go-ahead to allow outdoor theatres and concerts as part of its Phase 2 reopening strategy.
New releases and classic movies, up to four shows per week, will be on the bill.
“We have been looking at bringing the drive-in movie experience back to Thunder Bay before the pandemic started,” says The Walleye publisher Darren McChristie, in a release.
“Some are calling 2020 the year of the drive-in, and we are excited to be bringing this experience to Thunder Bay. Drive-in theatres are a perfect outing given the COVID-19 social distancing requirements—we will be taking precautions to keep our customers and employees safe while providing an opportunity to get out of the house and enjoy movies on the big screen.”
Food trucks will provide food and popcorn and the audio will be broadcast to vehicle radios using an FM transmitter. The screen will measure 30 feet by 17 feet.
They won’t be alone.
The Thunder Bay Border Cats parent company, Grand Slam Sports and Entertainment, is also jumping into the movie business, with baseball scrapped for 2020.
The team is expected to host drive-in movie nights this summer at the Murillo Fairgrounds, after receiving their approval from the province on Monday.
"We`ve been thinking about this for some time,' said Border Cats general manager Tony DiPaolo. "With this whole thing about the season possibly not happening, we were looking at other ways to generate some revenue. The idea came up in discussions. Since we already had a video wall (we realized) we could utilize that."
It's something that was in the works before the Northwoods League team cancelled its season, something they were planning to do regardless.
The LED screen they'll be using is the same one that was at Port Arthur Stadium last summer and DiPaolo said there are plenty of advantages to using this type of technology.
"Anybody that's seen it at the park knows you can see it clear as day in the daytime, so we don't have to wait until night. We plan to show some daytime matinees, as well as some evening movies."
DiPaolo said they're looking at 12 showings a week, two on Thursdays and Friday and four on Saturdays and Sundays. The movies have yet to be determined at this point.
He's hopeful they'll be able to hold movie nights into October, depending on the weather, adding they're also looking at a charity component to the operation.
SilverCity Cinemas, the major indoor movie house in the city, has been shut down due to COVID-19 restrictions since mid-March. The province has not specified when movie theatres will be allowed to reopen.
