It’s so hard to watch someone who has a passion for something trying to do what he or she loves, and being foiled at every turn. It’s made worse when what is being done is something that would provide happiness and entertainment to the community, too, and it’s not just a solitary or self-satisfying sort of dream.
Such is the case with the owner of the (hopefully) soon to be opened Twilight Drive-In in Aldergrove, BC. After being forced out of his previous location, the Hilltop Drive-In in Cloverdale due to our current housing boom, the owner was determined to keep the Lower Mainland’s one remaining drive-in movie theatre operational.
Now, taking things like the fickleness of audiences, seasonal weather, and many other variables into account, I’m pretty sure that this guy is not raking in the dough running this business – but it’s his passion, a labour of love. So, after searching far and wide he eventually discovered property in Aldergrove. And that’s when the problems started: first it was zoning concerns from the council; next the neighbours were complaining; after that we had unseasonably (even for us!) wet weather that delayed construction; then the screen collapsed as they were erecting it; and finally, insurance payouts were delayed following the screen collapsing.
But, after a projected spring opening that was pushed back to an early summer opening that was delayed to a BC Day grand opening, what do we get but more problems, this time in the form of complications from a telephone strike. It turns out that due to job action, there has been yet another delay in the opening of the theatre, as phone lines have to be moved before the final work can be completed on the electrical lines. Right now, we are looking at a projected Labour Day opening.
It never rains, but it pours, as they say. And in the drive-in movie business, that’s not the kind of reports you want to hear…
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