Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Thursday, April 3, 2014
(MITCHELL) - Spring is here and Steve Wilson, owner of the Holiday Drive-In, is being asked when the drive-in will open.
"It is my intention to open for our first weekend on April 25, 26, and 27," Wilson says. "We will more than likely not be able to get all the movies that we want. It could possibly be a bleak summer for second features, but we should be able to get all the big hit movies of the summer."
And that is because movies have went digital.
The cost of new digital technology is putting a strain on drive-in theaters around the country including The Holiday Drive-In. The digital projector costs $80,000; a price Wilson and other theater owners can't afford.
"I am going to keep my options open and we will see how things unfold," He added. "We are hoping to get in at least one more season. Many of our second features which we would normally pick up from winter have not been produced on film at all. This means, we may end up holding on to second title a lot longer than we normally would, which could hurt business a good deal."
Wilson, with the support of loyal fans, wants to create a fund raiser in hopes of keeping the drive-in open.
"But, I warn you, coming up with $80 thousand dollars will not be easy and some will scoff at our attempts to try," Wilson added. "There are some theaters that have been able to pull off the fund raisers and I have seen other theaters that only raised a disappointing $2,000 total."
In the mean time, Wilson and his crew will be working to get the theater in shape for opening day with a few fresh coats of paint and some other repairs.
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