* With a hat tip to WMAY, this is from Springfield’s Route 66 Drive-In Theater’s Facebook page…
We got the go ahead to open drive in so we will open on May 8 for the weekend and then maybe more nights the following week. Tickets will have to be presold and will be done through our website. My capacity will be half as have to park every other spot. Concessions will be done through app called FanFood and then will pick up at pick up window. I recommend downloading the app before you arrive. It will be going live this week for you to take a tour. We will be showing a single feature rather than double to keep rest room use down. Playground will be closed. Guests need to stay in there vehicle and park facing forward. No hatches will be allowed up. More details to follow.
The governor’s latest EO appears to forbid the reopening…
All places of public amusement, whether indoors or outdoors, including but not limited to… movie and other theaters… shall be closed to the public
* But DCEO has issued guidance that allows it…
Drive-in movie theatres can operate on a limited basis. Cars must be parked in every-other spot to ensure a minimum six-foot distance between cars. Patrons are not allowed to sit outside of their vehicles to view the movie. To the extent possible, reservations and payments for the theatre should be made in advance online or over the phone. To the extent possible, concessions should be ordered online or over the phone and be available for curbside pickup. Restrooms should have sufficient soap and hand sanitizer, and shall be regularly sanitized. Drive-in theatres should also follow the social distancing guidelines set forth in the order.
I may go to a movie, but I am not going into a public restroom. If the urge strikes, I’ll just drive on home.
- XonXoff - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 9:52 am:
As reopenings go, I like it.
- efudd - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 9:53 am:
Man, I miss drive-ins.
You, your date, seeing a double feature with snacks for less than ten bucks.
The Egyptian in Herrin was great.
- iggy - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 9:58 am:
Jurassic Park at the Mchenry county drive in this weekend. I’ll be there for sure.
- very old soil - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 10:09 am:
Why is DCEO making this IDPH? Does DCEO have epidemiologists on staff?
- Dotnonymous - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 10:12 am:
Over many years of curious observation,I’ve watched as (some) men used the “restroom” and walked out minus any attempt at hand washing…some of them in business suits…No public restrooms for me…except for cases of the green apple quick step.
- very old soil - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 10:18 am:
Intended to say, Why is DCEO making this call and not IDPH?
- Fighter of Foo - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 10:23 am:
If anyone is in the Western Burbs. Take a trip to Earlville to the Rote 34 Drive in… What a blast from the past! When the kids were young, it blew their minds…
- Lynn S. - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 10:55 am:
@ Very old soil–
Interagency cooperation?
- RNUG - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:17 am:
- Fighter of Foo - Years ago before Springfield reopened their drive-in, we took my son and a friend to the Route-34 drive-in. They had a blast. Made it a real trip back in time by staying at an old 50’s motel. My son takes his kids to the drive-in regularly.
Downstate there are at least 4 that were still operating last year. From memory Gibson City, Springfield, Litchfield, and Shelbyville.
- Lynn S. - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:22 am:
Does Newton still have its drive-in?
When I was a kid, we went to the Effingham Drive-in. Great memories (banned punctuation)
It’s been closed for about 20 years. I always get verklempft when I drive by the site.
- essentially working - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:22 am:
- “Why is DCEO making this call and not IDPH?”
There is minimal commerce and no economic opportunity? Trying to justify their existence?
I am surprised the state hasn’t started laying people off.
- Occasional Quipper - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:24 am:
If you click the link, one thing they’re doing to minimize restroom use is to show a single feature instead of their usual double feature. That should actually help a lot.
- Rich Miller - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:26 am:
===If you click the link===
Don’t even need to do that. It’s in the FB post above.
- MidState Anon - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:43 am:
–RNUG–
Where is the Shelbyville Drive In?
- Jimmy - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:48 am:
Does DCEO have any possible statutory authority to make these rules? When did DCEO switch from business advocate to business regulator? Aren’t these roles incongruent? Just wondering?
- Fighter of Foo - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 11:51 am:
RNUG- Now you’re just rubbing it in…
- Nick Name - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 12:00 pm:
When I was in the Marines, the town near our base had an awesome drive-in. We’d bring a cooler of beer and park in back by a grove of trees. Good times.
- Soccermom - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 12:04 pm:
It’s really the restroom issue here (assuming the concession stands are done safely). That’s why I worry about opening beaches. I’m not actually that concerned about transmission between strangers in the open air. It’s people using bathrooms, or going to badly run food/drink establishments, or any of the other related activities that require face-to-face or face-near-face interactions in a closed environment.
A friend (who is a doctor — exclamation points — ) gave me a hard time when I opposed going ahead with the St. Patrick’s Day parades. She said people at parades out in the open air don’t usually shake hands with strangers. My concern, of course, was people congregating in bars, standing in line for restaurant bathrooms, crowding into t-shirt shops, etc.
I think we need to stop shaming people for being outdoors, which just makes some people feel oppositional. Instead, I think we should remind people that spending a day at the beach, or the park, or any other outdoor gathering place requires stops in unsafe environments — e.g., gas station bathrooms.
- hisgirlfriday - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 12:46 pm:
Someone needs to tell the Harvest Moon in Gibson City and the Pantagraph.
https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/gibson-city-drive-in-still-shuttered-due-to-covid-19/article_80fade59-6475-5bf9-8853-07f46c5bbafc.html
- Dotnonymous - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 4:11 pm:
I just had to ask the plumber to put on a mask at my home…he complied while stating Jesus was in charge of life and death…I told him that was why God made masks and that I was in charge of my basement…Jesus.
- Captain Obvious - Monday, May 4, 20 @ 8:05 pm:
Coolest drive in I’ve been to is “The Spud” drive in in Driggs Idaho. Look for the giant potato on the back of flat bed truck…