New Drive-In Theater Being Set Up 40 Minutes from St. Cloud

A movie theater in St. Michael has decided to move movies from indoors to outdoors amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

St. Michael Cinema 15 took down their exterior signage yesterday to allow for movies to be projected on the side of the building, drive-in theater style.

They posted to their Facebook page saying:

It’s been a great 5 year run of indoor movies but today the sign is coming down . . .

To make room for the GIANT drive-in screen! Outdoor movies start this weekend!! Tickets will be posted tonight after 6pm. Keep an eye on the page.

Any business taking down their sign right now is nerve-wracking. There is no industry that hasn't been impacted in some way by shutdowns, so seeing that first sentence of their post had me on edge, but the news ended up being positive in the end.

After the sign came down, a screen went up and the team at the cinema spent last evening dialing in the projector to make sure it was crystal clear.

In a live video it was shared that concessions would still be operating this weekend for the new drive-in setup. Tickets are available online, and guests are being instructed to reserve a spot for their car. To listen to the movie, you can use your car radio, but they said they are encouraging people to use portable radios for the best effect.

As far as exiting your vehicle goes, you are allowed to leave and will have an area in front of your parking spot to sit. You can also watch from the trunks or beds of vehicles.

According to the cinema's website, this weekends movies are Zootopia and Jurassic Park. They intend to have this drive-in set up operating for many more weekends, so keep an eye on what is showing.