The Route 66 Drive-In theater in Springfield, Illinois, was supposed to open for the season Friday. However, with the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, it will remain closed — even for churches that want to hold services there.
Adding church services to the ban on drive-in theater use is notable because in neighboring Missouri, the 66 Drive-In in Carthage is hosting church services, including a whole bunch last Sunday on Easter.
It’s an illustration about the wide range of restrictions — if any — that states are imposing during the outbreak.
WICS-TV in Springfield reports:
Route 66 Drive-In Owner Doug Knight said the order comes from the Sangamon County Department of Public Health, who cite potential crowding in restrooms and the concession stand.
“We had some churches lined up to do some church services,” Knight said. “Obviously we can’t, so that’s off, too. We were planning on opening on the 17th and I was pushing it back because I wanted to do the thing with the churches because I think Springfield needs that. And so, everything’s off for the time being.”
Knight said he is considering making changes, such as online ordering for concessions and designating cars to park in every other space if he is allowed to open.
Knight said he’d appeal the decision to the Sangamon County Health Department.
The theater will be allowed to reopen if the state’s stay-at-home order expires on April 30 without an extension.
According to Cinema Treasures, the theater opened March 8, 1974, originally as the Green Meadows Drive-In. It closed in 1980 and sat until Knight revived it and christened it with its current name in the late 1990s.
It sits on Springfield’s south side a short distance from Old Chatham Road, an original alignment of Route 66.
(Image of the main marquee of the Route 66 Drive-In in Springfield, Illinois, via Facebook)
It has been said time and again that every use of a vehicle means the possibility of an accident, and emergency personnel increasing their risk of passing on or being infected with CV19. Therefore, are religious services of any sort – even drive-in ones – really ‘essential’? The UK has a problem similar to different US states having different rules; in the UK, with some 47 separate police forces each with its own chief constable, different rules county by county are being enacted, if not enforced.