HORTONVILLE, NY — Outdoor movies and a bridge closure dominated the discussion at the Delaware Town Board meeting on July 8. 

In a discussion prompted by Kristina Smith, a resident of Callicoon Center and owner of the 70-year-old Callicoon Theater, the board contemplated an appropriate venue in the town for the showing of outdoor movies. Since the mid-Hudson region, which includes Sullivan County, has gone into the fourth and final stage of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, part of the plan is to reopen low-risk outdoor arts and entertainment, but still not movie theaters.

To compensate for not being allowed to open, Smith seeks to host movies at an outdoor location in the town.

Smith went over the strict safety protocols she would implement: limiting capacity to only 33 percent attendance to allow for six feet of distance between each patron, requiring the wearing of masks when people are not in their seats and taking attendee’s information for contact tracing. At the beginning of the event, flyers would be passed around instructing those who tested positive for COVID-19 in the next 14 days to inform the theater so they can get the word out to other attendees from the same screening.

Smith was looking to use the Callicoon Park, but the discussion came up that the Hortonville Volunteer Fire Department pavilion might be a better space to host this event. Smith expressed concern as to how the Hortonville community might feel about the noise from the movie. Smith is tentatively planning for a Friday or Saturday night showing. She said the movie would start at 7:30 p.m., but the actual screening would not begin until 8 p.m. and would run past 10 p.m. She wondered if it would be necessary to reach out to the Hortonville community to ascertain their reaction. Town clerk Tess McBeath said the Hortonville community more than likely would be okay with having outdoor movies. Smith mentioned another location for the movie event might be in the parking lot at the Callicoon Theater. 

Supervisor Steve Lundgren agreed that the fire department pavilion was a much better solution than the Callicoon Park, and suggested Smith get in touch with the firemen to discuss rental fees and other details. After more information is gathered and possible locations exercised, a final decision could be made as to whether or not the outdoor movie event would take place.

Other discussion was the rehabilitation of the Jones Brook Bridge on NY Route 52A. The bridge was closed on July 13 and is slated to reopen on or around Friday, August 7.