by Bea Peterson
After eight Zoning Board and Planning Board meetings and a Public Hearing, Duane Greenawalt, owner of Hathaway’s Drive In on Route 67 in Hoosick finally received approval from the ZBA to put up a second screen. “The approval is contingent on my putting trees behind the screen to hide it from the neighbor’s view,” he said. He has changed the screen placement three times to make it less visible outside the Drive In. “I plan to place it in front of a big maple tree and plant other 10 foot deciduous and good sized evergreen trees, he said. “And the ZBA understands the trees may take a while to grow,” he added. Some of the trees will be fast growing, while others will take longer to mature. Greenawalt has also selected a smaller screen, though it will be 30 feet by 60 feet in size.
[private] First Stage
Greenawalt admitted the second screen may not be in use this season. “It took months to get the screen approved, so essentially I lost half a year,” he said. “Now I have to raise the money for an additional digital projector. And I didn’t want to do that until I was sure I could put up a screen.” A new projector will cost $70,000. Used projectors are few and far between, but Greenawalt has a couple of leads.
Need Second Screen To Succeed
Greenawalt said the reason for the second screen is that people aren’t coming to the Drive In because there are so many movies coming out all the time. “And we have to hold a movie for two weeks,” he said. Greenawalt added that if he had his way he would show a kid’s animated movie every night. With two screens he could show an animated movie on one screen and a more adult type film on another. “We will still show two films each screening,” he added.
Statistically, with two screens, showing twice as many films, an expected increase in attendance is 50%. “That’s huge,” said Greenawalt. People need a reason to come to the Drive In and this may be it.
New Marquee
“A new marquee is definitely going in this year,” said Greenawalt. “It’s been budgeted for and work on it will begin soon.” If all the snow melts, he expects the Drive In to open April 17.
Saturday Night Entertainers
Hathaway’s is looking for entertainers to perform on Saturday evenings before the movies begin for about an hour and a half to two hours. “We’re looking for live musical people who want to perform. We’ll feed them and provide them with movie passes for another time,” Greenawalt said. “We have the ability to accommodate them. We’ve done it in the past and the programs have been well received.” [/private]