Family still hoping to reopen drive-in

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This article was published 19/07/2018 (2669 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KILLARNEY — The cute awkwardness of teenagers on first dates and the family-friendly, community atmosphere of Killarney’s Shamrock Drive-In movie theatre is able to foster have been engrained in the hearts of its owners.

“It’s not like in the (indoor) theatre where you’re sitting and nobody knows each other,” Joanne Struss said. “People are getting out of their cars, they’re chit-chatting, they walk around. You can bring your children and they can fall asleep in the backseat; it’s cheaper than a babysitter.”

The drive-in closed a couple of years ago following the second in a series of storm events, which destroyed not only the movie screen but also the posts that held up the screen, which were installed when it first went up in 1953.

It was a devastating blow for not only Struss, who owns the property with husband Darren, but also the community, whose members haven’t stopped inquiring about the future of the business.

Although Struss said last year that she’d like to see the theatre open by now, she is no longer providing a timeline.

She is, however, clarifying that she hopes to see it reopen as soon as possible.

“It is very definitely high on our minds,” she said. “We have not given up.”

They’ve already taken significant steps toward reopening the drive-in, and have even purchased a digital projector in order to screen the latest movies, but Struss said that a few hurdles remain.

They need a new screen, and she said that while some carpenters had expressed interest in helping out, they keep on backing out of the project due to the difficulties associated with installing posts durable enough to face storm events.

Their concession building will require renovations before they’re able to sell food out of it, and the speaker boxes that feed movie sounds into vehicles will need to be replaced.

Although it’s a significant undertaking, Struss said that they remain committed to following through.

Having spent her youth in Killarney, Struss said that the drive-in theatre always offered something for people to do, regardless of their age. And judging from the feedback she has been receiving from people, it remains heavy in the hearts of Killarney-area residents.

The Struss family bought the property in 2011.

Living in Winnipeg at the time, Struss said that their decision to take the plunge was borne from a desire to keep the drive-in theatre open, despite it being an industry very much on the way out.

More hobby than a “bread and butter” business venture, Struss said that they knew from the get-go that they’d face significant hurdles, the main one being the fact that 35 mm film was on the way out in favour of modern digital projectors.

During their first few years, she said that obtaining 35 mm film became increasingly difficult, and that by 2014 they were feeling the crunch as movie companies’ reliance on film deteriorated.

The 2014 season was “terrible,” she said. “We were playing movies that were almost coming out on DVD by the time we got them.”

By 2015, 35 mm movies were no longer an option, so they started fundraising for the purchase of a digital projector.

Although the Shamrock Drive-In remained a popular attraction in the area and it was able to hold its own financially, Struss said that it was not a moneymaker and was unable to sustain any debt.

Uneasy with the idea of asking for money, Struss said that they forged ahead anyway as a result of the wealth of community support for the project.

Despite the scarcity of 35-mm movies that summer, they managed to screen a few flicks, including a double-feature at a Manitobaville contest event they hosted in hopes of winning money to upgrade their equipment, which brought in approximately 300 vehicles.

Then, half of the screen came down in a storm.

With the use of a temporary projector, they continued playing movies on the remaining section of the screen into 2016, until another storm event wiped out the balance of it.

“Everything came crashing down when that came crashing down,” Struss said.

What made the screen’s final destruction all the more heartbreaking was the fact that the Struss family had finally secured a digital projector.

With the screen gone, posts and all, they’d now have to rebuild the whole thing from scratch.

Complicating matters even further was the fact that the family was in the process of building a house on the property, which diverted their attention away from reopening the drive-in.

With nine kids in tow on top of everything, they’ve had their hands full. Even so, Struss said that the house is nearly complete, which should free up more time to focus on the Shamrock Drive-In.

Judging from recent phone calls and online messages, Struss said that public interest is certainly still there, and while there’s lots of work that needs to be done before it can reopen, it remains within reach.

Reluctant to offer a timeline, since life tends to get in the way, Struss said that they remained committed to reopening the popular attraction, and that she’s just as eager, if not more, to enjoy the venue again as fellow community members are.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

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