One of Chapel Hill’s first pandemic-era businesses will soon be shutting down its projector.

The Drive-In at Carraway Village, a drive-in movie theater off Eubanks Road, is set to hold its final film screening on Wednesday, July 27. The theater’s founders Randi Emerman and Carol Marshall shared an extended message to audience members on July 7 with the news. The Carraway Village luxury apartment complex is expanding and undergoing construction on part of the lot where the theater currently sits, which Emerman and Marshall said played heavily into their decision.

“We not only had to think about making ends meet having lost the majority of our spaces without raising cost to you,” said their message, “but more importantly, the safety of our staff and the movie-loving community was our main priority as the area becomes more and more of an active construction site.”

The drive-in theater started as a partnership between Emerman, Marshall and the apartment community managers Northwood Ravin in the middle of 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerman and Marshall sought to still hold the Film Fest 919 festival, which the pair also founded, while also being conscious of public health measures. At the time, the vacant lot at 600 Carraway Crossing worked well for residents to park their cars in front of a big screen, which was constructed shortly before the film festival in October 2020.

Cars park at the first film screening of the Drive-In at Carraway Village in October 2020, as part of Film Fest 919.

A laser show was part of the 2021 edition of Film Fest 919, which included screenings at the drive-in theater and a traditional movie theater.

Emerman and Marshall thanked Northwood Ravin for their cooperation and willingness to find a solution to not just hold two years of the film festival, but also provide dozens of other film screenings over the following 20 months.

“Although [we] are heartbroken about this decision, we are so pleased to have been able to provide the opportunity for you to see movies outside of your home and on the big screen during some of the strangest and most trying times of our lives,” wrote the Drive-In founders. “And you supported the theater through hurricanes, tornados, lack of electricity (yes, for the first 6 months we had a gas generator), and even the lack of a consistent stream of big film openings. But you all came, and for that we thank you and you are forever in our hearts.”

Emerman and Marshall’s message indicated there is a chance the theater will re-open in the future. But in the meantime, The Drive-In at Carraway Village will screen “Thor: Love and Thunder” until its final day on July 27.

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