However, these are not normal times. Despite traditionally opening up by the second week in April, the theatre is not open for the first time in their 68-year history.
“It’s definitely hard to deal with,” Rick Cohen, the owner of the theatre, said. “We’ve been closed down since November. We were really cranked to reopen actually on March 20 and we had made an announcement that we were going to open, then (the coronavirus pandemic) happened.”
Movie theatres were among the first businesses to be mandated by New York State to shut down because of the fears of spreading coronavirus. However, the popular theatre in Lockport is one of only 27 drive-in theatres in the state. Anyone who buys a ticket to a movie could, in theory, avoid any sort of social contact because they would stay in their car the entire time.
Even Cohen said he has lobbied Empire State Development to have his business reopened because they are creating a plan which would mitigate the spread. These measures include requiring customers to buy tickets online, have them scanned by their ticket-takers, spreading cars ten feet apart instead of three-to-four feet, and switching to take-out concession stands.
Cohen also suggested they may only show one movie per screen instead of their double-feature and require people to stay in their cars the entire time.
“The restroom use is probably the most concerning area of the drive in,” Cohen said. “We’re going to limit it to one person at a time and have an attendant in the restroom disinfecting the stall after each use and a person outside the restrooms controlling the flow so that there is not more than one person in the restroom at a time.”
While Cohen has given the idea of opening a lot of thought, he’s not sure when exactly he will open because that decision will ultimately be made by the state. He believes the state will require all businesses to create a mitigation plan.
“They were talking about thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of people hospitalized locally,” Cohen said. “We wanted to err on the side of caution and do our part to limit the spread of the virus as much as possible. We felt the best way to do that is to stay closed.”
Cohen said March and April are typically a slow time of season for them anyway.
Cohen said his business has also received inquiries about hosting drive-in events like church services, high school graduations, and even a wedding ceremony.
While drive-in theatres have lost much of their popularity over the years, many are now looking at them as a potential benchmark in a return to normalcy.
“We’re looking forward to providing that and we’re going to make sure that when we do reopen that we’re going to be as safe as we possibly can be,” Cohen said “That’s going to be our top priority is that it’s going to be a safe experience. If we can’t do it safely, we’re not going to reopen.”
During his coronavirus briefing on Sunday, Governor Cuomo was asked about the idea of a drive-in theatre reopening.
"Where's the public safety issue?" Cuomo said. "There's a drive-in theatre. You're in the car with the same people."
However, the idea was dismissed by budget director Robert Mujica because he said employees would still have to show up for work and have to interact in order to operate. They were never pressed about the idea of mobile ticketing.