An indoor drive-in?

 I had an idea in the shower last night. It’s where I often get ideas, many of which appropriately go down the drain. The bathroom radio (doesn’t everyone have one) was on, and there was a news report about the current theater box office results for the weekend.

With the pandemic, movie houses are having a rough time. Fewer new releases and limited audience sizes are what theaters that are open have to contend with now. However, the pandemic has created a revival of sorts for an old movie tradition - the drive-in theater. 

There used to be drive-in theaters everywhere. They sprang up anywhere folks could find a big enough pasture where they put up a big screen, a projection house, and a snack bar. People flocked to the drive-ins to watch movies. At least that’s what teen couples told their parents. For a low price, you could take a carload - or truckload - of family and friends to the drive-in for an evening’s entertainment.

While a lot of A-list movies played at drive-ins, often on their second release after a run in movie houses, there was an entire industry for movies made strictly for drive-ins. These were B-movies at best, and many didn’t even reach that level. Today’s equivalent are the low-budget, straight-to-video releases. And they covered all genres, but usually with adult themes - women in prison, bikers, gangsters, revenge, spaghetti westerns, horror, science fiction, sexploitation, blaxploitation, etc. 

Thanks to the coronavirus and closed movie houses, the few remaining drive-ins across the landscape have new life. Folks can go see movies and social distance all in the comfort of their vehicles. That’s where my idea began. 

Since drive-ins can show movies only at night, it can be a bit of a drawback for their owners. So, how about an indoor drive-in theater? 

That’s not an oxymoron. Use the parking garage concept to build an enclosed structure, but with plenty of ventilation, a large movie screen, and parking spaces where vehicles’ occupants could easily see the screen. It would have all the amenities of a traditional drive-in, too. There’d be a one-way entrance and two one-way exits on either side of the screen to provide easy traffic flow. 

Sure, it’d have to be big, and likely wouldn’t be cheap to build, but you have to admit it would be a unique experience. It’d provide an outlet for big-time movies and be suitable for daytime matinees. Like traditional drive-ins, it also would enable patrons to social distance while going to the movies. 

IOne positive aspect of the pandemic is it’s getting folks to think outside the box and be more open-minded and creative their thinking. It’s a time for entrepreneurs and dreamers to adapt and reshape the world around us.

And if the indoor drive-in doesn’t work, at least you’d have an indoor parking garage/storage facility.

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