Under the Stay At Home 2.0 orders put forth by Gov. Chris Sununu on May 1, drive-in movie theaters are allowed to open for business this week.

Milford Drive-In owner Barry Scharmett, who lives in Temple, said he will open Friday, May 15 for the first time this season under the new modified orders that were issued. Scharmett said he was hopeful he’d be included in the initial reopening plan.

“I’m an outdoor facility and have the ability to space people,” he said.

The opportunity to open comes with restrictions and alters the way Scharmett can operate, but he said he doesn’t have a problem with the protocols put into place.

“You take the good with the bad. You take what they give you,” Scharmett said. “They’re letting me open.”

In addition to practicing social distancing between employees and customers, wearing face coverings and providing sanitizing/hand washing stations, there are other protections that must be adhered to. Patrons must maintain proper social distancing, staying in or immediately around their cars and restrooms must be supplemented by a limited number of portable toilets to eliminate the need for patrons to wait on line.

Under the reopening guidelines, there must be a minimum of 10-feet between cars. Scharmett said he has poles that are 18 feet apart and that under normal circumstances, two cars would be parked between a set of poles. That no longer can happen.

“It’s cutting my capacity in half,” Scharmett said.

In previous years, Scharmett said food sales were done in a cafeteria style way, where customers would go into the concession stand and grab what they wanted as they went through the line, but now there will be order and pick up windows to keep people from gathering.

“I don’t want people in the building nor touching anything,” Scharmett said.

Originally, Scharmett was going to open for the season on March 27, but that was before the coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to close and other seasonal industries to put plans on hold.

“When you look out the window and there’s no snow, there’s nothing to do but open,” Scharmett said.

But Scharmett said he quickly realized that would not be the case this season. The 2020 scheduled opening date was two weeks before Scharmett typically opens – the second weekend in April.

“I’ve opened in March before, but not very often,” he said.

After the original Stay At Home orders went into effect, Scharmett said it became a waiting game to see when and if he might be able to turn on his two screens for patrons.

Due to the pandemic, the movie industry halted productions, began transitioning new movies to streaming and pushed back release dates as far as next year.

“Once the cinemas closed it wreaked havoc. Everything has changed. The whole movie industry got upended. It’s like night and day,” Scharmett said.

But Scharmett said there is nothing he can do about it and is just thankful he can finally open. Scharmett said he is still working through when he will be open, but through at least the first two weekend the plan is to show movies on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

He will begin the season by showing “Onward” and “Call of the Wild” on screen one and “Invisible Man” and “The Hunt” on screen 2, with showings starting around 7:45 p.m.

With only three drive-in theaters in the state, Scharmett said that the drive-in industry could have easily been overlooked in the modified orders that are in place through May 31, much of which was designed to begin reopening the state’s economy. Scharmett said he wanted to make sure that the Governor and the state’s Economic Re-opening Task Force were thinking of his business as they worked through their decision making. Scharmett sent a letter to Gov. Sununu’s office, emailed as many of the committee members he could and enlisted the help of Milford selectmen.

“Had I not done anything, we wouldn’t have even been mentioned,” Scharmett said.

Scharmett said high schools may inquire about hosting graduations at the drive-in, and there has been initial conversations with about eight high schools.

While not directly related to the cost of upgrading the facilities due to the restrictions put in place for reopening, Scharmett said the cost of a single car with up to six people has increased to $30 for the year.

“I haven’t increased the price in probably five years,” Scharmett said. “But the cost to run a business has jumped.”