Missing theatre movies? City now offering free drive-ins rest of May

    The Imperial Theatre remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and Nebraska’s restrictions, but the city of Imperial has another plan for some weekend entertainment.
    For the last three weekends of May, the city will be hosting a drive-in movie for the public.
    The movies will be played at the expo area of the Chase County Fairgrounds. The same movie will be played Friday night and Saturday night of each weekend, in order to allow a maximum number of viewers, said City Clerk/Administrator Jo Leyland.
    Entry to the movie is free. Freshly popped popcorn will be served for free will donations to help with costs.  
    No other refreshments will be served, Leyland said, but the public is encouraged to bring their own.
    “This will be a true drive-in theater experience, where the movie will be projected onto a screen and people will be asked to remain in their vehicles in order to maintain physical distancing,” said Leyland.
    Audio will be broadcast over FM frequencies. Viewers can bring portable radios if they do not want to run their vehicle radio for the entire movie.
    Just in case, jumper cables will be on hand in the event anyone’s car battery runs down, she said.
    Viewers will not have access to bathrooms at the fairgrounds, so attendees should plan accordingly, she added.
    Vehicles may begin entering the expo area at 7:45 p.m., and the movie will start at 8:30 p.m. Due to screen size limitations, cars are encouraged to park in the first few rows and taller vehicles behind them so as not to obstruct the view of others.
    The movies for the next three weekends are as follows:
    May 15-16—Jurassic Park, rated PG-13
    May 22-23—Back to the Future, rated PG
    May 30-31—To be announced
Imperial Theatre future
    Leyland said they hear just about daily from their movie booking agent, who told them most of the major film studios are closed down right now.
    New releases are bypassing the theatres, and going straight to the pay-to-view sites. That’s not good for the theatre owners, she said.
    It could be 18 months before new releases are available to theatres Imperial’s size, she said.
    ‘We’ll just have to see what we’ll be able to get later on,” she said.
    In the meantime, she plans to get input from the theatre board on the possibility of continuing the drive-in offerings beyond May or other ideas.
    They’ll be watching closely the directives from the Governor’s Office and whether some of the current limitations are lifted or eased.
    “There is the possibility of reopening the theatre later on down the road with social distancing restrictions,” she said.