The Port Hope Drive-In is finally opening for the 2020 season on Friday, June 12th.
The drive-in, located at 2141 Theatre Road South in Cobourg, made the announcement on its Facebook page on Monday afternoon (June 1).
Details are to come on what movies will be shown.
Last Friday (May 29), the Ontario government amended its emergency order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, that requires the closure of non-essential businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, to exclude drive-in theatres.
However, the government also listed several public health restrictions that drive-ins must have in place when opening.
The Port Hope Drive-In is following the same rules as the Lindsay Drive-In, which reopened on Sunday (May 31):
- there must be one empty parking space between each vehicle (two metres apart)
- only members of the same household can be in the same vehicle
- customers must remain in their vehicles except when leaving to use the washroom
- convertibles are not allowed, and patrons cannot sit in the beds of pick-up trucks.
- no food or beverages can be sold.
Any customers not following the rules will be asked to leave.
The closure of the concession stand means the drive-in is temporarily allowing customers to bring in their own food.
“Truthfully, this is a devastating requirement as our actual profit comes from these sales,” the drive-in writes on its Facebook page. “Without them we won’t be able to survive long — we hope this gets amended soon.”
Washrooms will be open at the drive-in but with restricted use. Children must be accompanied by a family member.
Like the Lindsay Drive-In, the Port Hope Drive-In must operate at half its normal capacity to allow for the required physical distancing between vehicles. That means only 200 vehicles will be allowed into the drive-in at any time.
The Port Hope Drive-In will only be accepting cash until further notice.
