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Retro Drive-in ready for test run

Monster From a Prehistoric Planet will premiere at Angus MacDonald Park Saturday night.
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Grand Forks' new Retro Drive-in is featuring Monster From a Prehistoric Planet as its premiere movie

Throw a blanket in your car and grab your car keys because Grand Forks officially has a drive-in theatre.

Don Lindeman and his wife Lise Tunold have made their summer’s worth of work a reality, as the drive-in has its first test run this Saturday night.

Lindeman said it’s been a long time coming figuring it out—they’ve gone through a few different potential sites before arriving on Angus MacDonald Park. “The city has been incredibly cooperative and is letting us use Angus MacDonald Park,” Lindeman said. “We are tentatively booked every Saturday night until the end of August.”

Lindeman said the collaboration with the city came about after he attended a meeting and ask for some help with the project, and received a very positive response.

This week’s movie, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet, is from 1964. Lindeman said they’ll be playing the vintage commercials that go along with it, as well as some vintage Bugs Bunny cartoons before the show. Admission is by donation this week, and in weeks after will be $10 per car. Lindeman said he hopes popcorn will be avaliable this week, depending on permit approval, but they’re working on providing snacks and coffee.

Next year, he said, the movies will hopefully be running all summer long.

“We’d like to do that next year, start really early and go into September. This whole season is getting our feet wet, we’re lucky to get it going,” he said.

It’s first come first served for parking, and the sound to the movie will be broadcast over FM radio. Vintage and classic cars are invited to park in the first row, and there will be a lawn chair area for anyone who wants to bring a chair and sit outside. The show is tentatively scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. although may start closer to 9:30 pending sundown.