Killarney's drive-in theatre to close this summer

The Shamrock Drive-in in Killarney, Man. will be closing up shop for the foreseeable future, opening only on special occasions, unless they can come up with the cash to switch to digital equipment. 

The drive-in's owner, Joanne Struss, posted to the company's Facebook page explaining her family's situation. 

Struss and her husband bought the company four years ago and they knew that 35 millimetre film was already being phased out but in the time since, Struss said the cost of switching to digital has continued to multiply as options for drive-in operators shrank. 

The Shamrock has been quoted $89,000 for the projector needed for their screen size and projection distance. Struss said she has heard of lower quotes around the $65,000 mark but she isn't sure that those quotes correspond to projectors that would fit their electrical system.

There are a handful of films still available on 35 millimetre reels, "It's just not enough to swing a season by," Struss told CBC's Radio Noon.  

No glass-slipper ending

On May long weekend, the Shamrock was supposed to show Cinderella but they were unfortunately thwarted by weather.

"We took a pretty big hit with that and we thought we just can't. You just can't swing a season. We just thought it was best to close down and hopefully find a way to go digital," she said. 

The nearby drive-in in Morden is facing similar challenges, Struss said. She knows the Morden drive-in has been fundraising for three years now and heard the owners had reached about $18,000. Stuss said her family will be starting a GoFundMe campaign to see if they can't make a dent in the bill that way. 

"There's just something about seeing movies under the stars. It was my childhood experience and Darren [husband] and I actually had our first date at the drive in just outside of Winnipeg. Honestly, it's just so much fun to do as a family," Struss said.