In Morden, one of Manitoba’s last drive-in theatres makes a final stand

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This article was published 07/07/2015 (3961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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One of the last drive-in theatres in Manitoba is asking for help from the public to stop the screen from fading to black.

The Stardust Drive-In Theatre near Morden launched a crowd-funding campaign through Kickstarter.com last month to try to raise $30,000 to help the theatre convert to digital projectors from the traditional 35mm equipment that is in place. The campaign closes Wednesday, and despite hundreds of donations, owners are still a few thousand dollars short of their goal.

Marlene Nelson bought the theatre in 2002 with her brothers and husband. Since then, she said, the theatre has been open every weekend from the end of May to the beginning of September. This summer, the screen has stayed black for all but three weekends, as the theatre struggles to keep up with a movie industry that is leaving traditional drive-in technology behind.

“This is the first time ever that screen has been dark,” Nelson said. The initial quote to switch to digital equipment is over $90,000, she said — a major swing for a business that only runs weekends four months a year.

In 2012, movie companies started transitioning to digital film, ditching the old-fashioned 35mm film the Stardust and other drive-ins use. This year, Nelson said fewer than five movies were made on 35mm film, and industry policies forbid the theatre from accessing old film from years gone by.

“It’s now to the point where either (theatres) do digital or they’re closed. And that is really, truthfully the way it is for us as well,” said Nelson.

The Stardust, built in the early 1960s, is a Morden institution, Nelson said. Staff include friends and volunteers. Churches bring youth groups. Local businesses have hosted events to help raise money. And every weekend for years, friends and families of all ages have gathered to watch a movie under the stars.

“To me, it’s just wonderful that it’s not just one age group,” Nelson said. “There’s little ones that come in their pyjamas, sometimes they can’t even stay up for the whole movie.”

Over the past month, Nelson’s campaign, Save The Stardust Drive-In Theatre, has raised more than $20,000 from nearly 300 backers, but is still around $8,000 shy of her goal. The fundraiser closes Wednesday at 1:19 p.m., and unless the whole $30,000 is raised, none of the money contributed will go to the theatre. If that happens, Nelson said she doesn’t know what her next step to save the theatre would be.

She has a full-time job otherwise, so she’s not worried about income — but losing the theatre would be “heartbreaking,” she said. Nelson remembered setting up for a film this summer with her daughter, Kayla.

“She looked at me, and she says, ‘Mom, this is my happy place.’ I said, ‘That’s really neat to hear, because it just happens to be mine as well.’”

Flin Flon’s Big Island drive-in, and Killarney’s Shamrock are the only other two drive-ins left in Manitoba, although the Shamrock is also fundraising in order to go digital and its future is far from certain.

aidan.geary@freepress.mb.ca