NORTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A local drive-in theater hopes to reel in guests with a new offering.
Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre in North Whitehall now has two party spaces available to rent for groups attending the theater.
Each of the spaces, sponsored by D. E. Cressman Insurance Agency, has one reserved parking space, an exclusive gathering area, a picnic table and an optional pre-movie welcome message on the screen.
Shankweiler’s co-owner Matthew McClanahan said he and his partner Lauren McChesney had been getting requests to rent out the theater “almost every week.”
“The difference with a drive-in versus an indoor is that an indoor theater has many showtimes during the day, whereas a drive-in only has the one at night,” McClanahan said. “And so for us, we would have to close the theater for a private event.
“And it just made it cost prohibitive not only for us, but for people who wanted to rent a theater.”
So as an alternative, they decided to set up the party spaces.
“People can gather and enjoy each other's company and enjoy the movie, but have a space to themselves that they have control over, that they can set up, put decorations up, put tables up,” McClanahan said.
The current rental price is $50 per night. General admission must be purchased in addition to the rental, which costs $12 for adults and $8 for children under 12.
The spaces can be booked on Shankweiler’s website.
Rental details
The party spaces can accommodate around 15 people, according to the website. Two spaces may be booked together for larger groups if they are both available.
The spaces are at the back of the theater, but still have a good view of the screen, McClanahan said.
“Our drive-in has a slight little hill to it, and it's at the very top of that. So you're kind of overlooking the whole field,” McClanahan said.
McClanahan said outside food in the theater is “permitted but discouraged.”
“If you want to bring some food or you have a catering system set up for it, we're not going to turn our nose up at that,” McClanahan said.
“But we do encourage anybody visiting the theater, whether or not you're renting out the party space, to support our snack bar, because that's how we stay operating.”
“We're gonna keep jazzing them up.”Shankweiler’s co-owner Matthew McClanahan
Rental requests must be made at least one week ahead of the planned event and are subject to availability of the party spaces.
Guests can ask the theater to open its gates earlier for the event, McClanahan said, but it may cost extra if the snack bar opens as well.
McClanahan said he recommends attendees bring their own portable radio or use their cars to hear the movie sound, but the theater has a limited supply of radios it can give out.
McClanahan described the party spaces as a “work in progress.”
“We have a couple of fun little additions on the way so stay tuned for that,” McClanahan said. “We're gonna keep jazzing them up.”
