Theatre-owner urges B.C. to follow Saskatchewan’s lead on drive-ins

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The province should be making it easier –not harder–  to take in a socially distanced movie at a drive-in, according to an independent theatre-owner who says B.C. should follow the lead of Saskatchewan.

The Twilight Drive-in in Langley is now limiting attendance to 50 vehicles, despite the fact that they have been operating at a capacity of 200 cars per night all season despite the pandemic.

Criticism of the 50-car limit has focused on the fact that while entering Phase 2 of the province’s reopening plan means an easing of restrictions, this theatre is ironically seeing restrictions on operations ramp up.

“I can’t for the life of me understand when we had a higher rate, when we had higher infections when COVID was more prevalent in the community they were allowed to have hundreds,” says Ken Charko, CEO of Vancouver’s Dunbar theatre.

Charko says as a theatre-operator who is also trying to find ways to safely do business during the pandemic, he has an obligation to stick up for Jay Daulat who runs the Twilight.

“I should’ve been out there sending out the message that it’s a safe, appropriate level the way that it is. I was silent,” he explains.

In a letter addressing the province and the federal government, he urges officials to reconsider.

“In Canada, there are around 36 drive-in theatres and 900 employees in total. As the theatre industry is experiencing uncertainty about the future due to COVID-19, drive-in theatres can provide a social outlet for entertainment while still implementing physical distancing measures. Concurrently, employees at drive-in theatres will not have to lose their jobs in an already bleak job market,” he writes.

In Saskatchewan, drive-ins were not allowed to open at all until May.

Charko says the restrictions in that province should apply in B.C.

“They have set the limit capacity at 100 cars and have placed social distancing guidelines. For temporary drive-in theatres, conditions like keeping attendees at a minimum of two metres apart must be met. For fixed drive-in theatres, there are conditions such as a separation of vehicles by a minimum of five metres and contactless pick-up or delivery for food. This makes it easier for fixed drive-in theatres to continue functioning, as well as allow temporary ones to open,” he writes in his letter.

Adopting these guidelines could allow the operator of the Twilight to salvage the season, and prevent layoffs of staff.

“He’s in a unique position, his unique position is that he’s seasonal. So to wait until September to be able to [see restrictions] be relaxed is going to be very detrimental to him,” Charko says, adding it could take five years for the owner to recover from a single lost season.

Charko says British Columbians should be encouraged to go to the drive-in.

“Let’s talk about a safe environment to go out to,” he says.

“The reason people are flooding other venues — the parks, the bikeways–the reason they’re flooding those in greater numbers than we want is because of cabin fever. If you’re going to do that, a much better outing would be going to the drive-in.”

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