Geelong’s Vibrant
New Entertainment Space

Geelong DRIVE IN CINEMA
One of many possible artist impression on what is coming

The Bellarine Peninsula is a thriving regional zone close to Melbourne, Geelong and the iconic Great Ocean Road.  With a Mediterranean climate, beaches, golf courses, bountiful fishing, wineries and breweries, vibrant shopping hubs, multiple holiday accommodation options and a successful theme park, it’s become a year-round haven and recreational mecca for residents and visitors.   Population analysts are predicting boom-like growth over the next 16 years.  This represents a growing market for the local economy.  Consequently, our growing region naturally demands additional family-friendly entertainment options.

Vision Statement

Watch new, cult and classic movies at our drive-in theater, enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner at our 50’s style diner, and support local farmers, artisans and businesses at our outdoor market.

Guiding Principles

Opportunity – Our drive-in and diner will create a number of employment opportunities, and a flow on effect to suppliers and other businesses involved in maintaining the facility, while our weekly market will feature low-cost stalls, stands and plots for lease by the local community.

Sustainability – We believe in supporting local farmers, artisans and producers who employ environmentally sustainable farming and productions methods, and offering training techniques to the community on sustainable and organic use of the land.

Community – Our farm will supply our diner and other local food establishments with fresh, wholesome produce. Anything we can’t make ourselves, we aim to source from local producers, so everything you eat supports the people and growth of our community.

Accessibility – One Sunday a month the drive-in will be an open-gate day where concession holders can enjoy current movies for free.

Unity –A focus on building and uniting our community to support local enterprise, we will ‘pay back’ our surplus profits to you, in the way of charitable donations, commercially based capital injection, business kick starters and community project support.

The Project

This project is to bring a real drive-in theater back to the Geelong region!

The proponent wishes to construct a community enhancing complex and is seeking approval from the council for this project to move forward.  The complex is planned to be situated in the Moolap – Leopold area, preferably on the Portarlington Highway.  Along this stretch of roadway there are no food establishments to service the community or travellers. The Diner associated with the project would be ideal to service this need.

We invasion 3 possible stage.

  1. Screens up for 200 cars on 2 screen and food van to supply the food to patrons
  2. Build our own temporary diner to feed patrons on movie night and general public in the day time and nights when there are no movie playing. It will incorporate drive thru and home delivery with its own drivers and well as app based deliveries.
  3. Full complex see details below

PRIMARY USES

The entertainment complex will contain:-

  • Three screen drive-in with each screen catering for between 250 – 300 cars/screen. (Layout dependent.)
  • Four cinema with each seating 60 – 120 patrons
  • Diner will serve traditional food as well as something more healthier. This will seat 80 – 120 patrons indoors, 30 outdoors on the lower level and about 60 on the roof, combined with a further drive-through service available.  With many people living in Leopold and beyond along the highway, the proponent sees this as an opportunity to provide convenient, economical and healthy meal options for them.  These will be available from the diner and in the form of chilled or frozen ready-to-eat meals only requiring heating once home.  A home delivery service will also to available as an added community service.
  • Open air roof-top cinema and multi-use function area. Casual seating for 60 – 80 patrons will be provided in the roof-top area allowing for functions to be catered for as well as separate experiences.  Parties will be able to enjoy private screenings of movies of their choice in this zone making it a wonderfully inclusive environment for shared experiences.  The function area will provide the option to be enthralled by video gaming interactions on the big screen or private viewings of movies in Gold Class style recliners.
  • A separate balcony area will servicing the drive-in will also be available for those without cars.

OTHER USES

Drive-In area

  • Farmers’ Markets, Craft Markets and Community Fetes. The drive-in carparks will be perfectly conformed to host all these activities.  The location of the facility will create a convenient point for a multitude of farmers and cottage industries to transport their goods to for these wonderful community events.  This will foster their growth and assist the local economy by providing a local venue for local consumers to purchase local products.
  • One of the drive-in screens will have a stage in front.  This will allow for outdoor theatre events to be held under the stars and up and coming bands to start their journeys.

Multi-Purpose Rooms

These are two large rooms that can be opened up to form one much larger one.  Individually or separately they could be suitable for –

  1. Conferences,
  2. Seminars,
  3. Workshops,
  4. Training/practice rooms for marital arts, dance, exercise classes etc. This/these room/s would be ideal for small business owners conducting these activities to work from and so provide another outlet for additional external businesses to grow.

Other Features

  • Landscaped open-air café area around the outside of the diner and on the roof.
  • Showers will be available for those engaged in exercise classes to utilize before they head off to work. Healthy breakfast options will also be provided.
  • Power for the complex will be mains, solar, wind, and backup generator
  • Outer access road will be made in a way that allows people to walk, run ride and rollerblade in a safe and open environment.
  • Private Meeting rooms – You can have you cafe meeting away from the noise of the general public, private cinema and a video games room
  • Nursing mothers room – To give mother privacy while feeding infants.
  • Play grounds
  • Adhoc BYO for the function area.
  • Drive through
  • Home delivery

Operating Hours

The operating hours may need to be adjusted to fit in with consumer demand.  Initially, it is envisioned the following will come close to meeting that demand.

Diner will be open independent of other activities.

  • Mon – Sat – 6.30am – 10.00pm non daylight savings.
  • Mon – Fri – 6.30am – 10.00am daylight savings.
  • Sat – 6.30am – 10.00pm daylight savings.

Drive-In

  • Mon – Sat, Dusk to 11.30pm non daylight savings.
  • Mon – Sat, Dusk to 1.30am daylight savings.

Cinema

  • Mon – Sat – 10am – 10.30pm.

Giving back to the community

  • First Sunday low income snack an drink include
  • Other Sunday open to all, spiritual, docs and inspirational

Employment

In keeping with a project of this scope, many part-time and full time staff will be needed.  A few of these will be trained into supervisory roles while the majority will be service staff.  Additionally, there will be extensive employment opportunities provided during the construction phase.  The following represents a forecast of the positions available when the complex is running at full capacity –

Direct Employment:  80 – 100.

  • 10-12 full time,
  • Balance part time and casual.

Indirectly:

  • Food suppliers,
  • Consumables (diner, cleaning).
  • Maintenance,
  • Plumbing,
  • Electrical,
  • Engineering,
  • Technology

Possibilities

  • Jazz on the roof – jazz bad playing on the rood on Saturdays night 2 times a month. Involve local jazz player and singers
  • Theme Nights – Have a band or DJ in conjunction with a move. IE rock n dance before grease, 80’s dance before dirty dancing or footloose. Blues brothers night with tickets to the blues train.
  • Weekend packages – getting together with Geelong tourism and other attractions to create a weekend in Geelong and the surrounding area  get people to come for dinner and a movie and stay the weekend.
  • Video Games night – using drive-in and cinemas for Video Game
  • Movie Matinee – Golden oldies movie on the big screen.
  • Dust to dawn
  • Movie Marathons – movies series, or movies with the same genres
  • In car dining – reserved space in front of diner like happy days

Summary

We will start small moving on to bigger and great things.

Under the plans outlined, the complex will be a viable and valuable community asset for residents of and visitors to Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula.  It will provide a much needed dine-in and take-away eating option for the multitude of passing commuters and an array of entertainment choices for a vast number of people.  Audience enthusiasm will be boosted by running a range of movies from old to new and every genre imaginable across the complexes 8 screens.

The local economy will benefit from direct and indirect employment opportunities.  Small business operators will be stimulated by the chance to use the function rooms to trade and the additional prospects provided by the markets.

With multiple streams of income, enormous existing and growing numbers of passing trade and attractions to draw a crowd from far and wide the complex is certain to become a year-round focal point.  On a peninsula already known for its easy-going and commerce-friendly atmosphere it will be right at home.