River Restaurant plans two-screen year-round drive-in cinema

“Dinner and a movie” has new meaning in Wethersfield. The Henney family, which owns and runs the River restaurant and bar on the Wethersfield waterfront, is going ahead with plans for a two-screen, year-round drive-in cinema next door. They hope to start showing films in September.

“We originally came up with the idea because of COVID,” explains Christopher Henney, “but we wanted it to be a legitimate drive-in theater, not a tent and a DVD player. When we went to the town to get it approved, we said ‘We want to do it right or not do it at all.’ ”

For the Henneys, “doing it right” means first-run movies shown on backto-back 60-foot screens, a spacious rest-room trailer and a concession stand which will offer traditional movie house snacks (particularly popcorn) prepared in the River kitchens. Alcohol will not be served.

Sound will be piped into cars through an FM radio frequency, but there will also be outside speakers so that patrons won’t miss anything if they choose to leave the car and stroll to the concession stand during the movie.

Most of the cars will be parked in existing spaces of a parking lot at an office building next to River. Capacity should be around 150-200 cars total for the two screens, Henney says.

Borne out of the pandemic need for outdoors entertainment, the Henneys’ idea will reach fruition long after the peak of the pandemic. “You can not believe the responses we have gotten just from a couple of posts on social media,” Henney says. “It’s very surprising how excited people have gotten about it.”

The drive-in is partly modeled on the Ford Drive-in in Dearborn, Michigan, which has been operating since 1950. The screens are an inflatable design which are essentially permanent but can be easily taken down in the case of high winds or heavy snowstorms.

They plan to screen current Hollywood hits. “If we were open right now,”

Henney says, “we might have ‘Black Widow,’ ‘Fast & Furious.’ ” They hope to do special screenings for Halloween, Christmas and other holidays.

“We had to wait four or five months just for the restroom trailer,” Henney says. “It’s all coming together now.”