P.E.I. drive-in still dealing with damaged equipment after lightning strike
Brackley Drive-in owner says he's had to make several costly replacements
The owner of the Brackley Drive-In says he's still dealing with damaged equipment after lightning struck the property just over a week ago.
Bob Boyle says it's still unclear where exactly the lightning struck, but what he does know is that he's had to make several costly replacements to his projection system.
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"We haven't totaled everything up yet but I'd say we're getting close to 20 or 30 thousand dollars," he said.
In the immediate aftermath of the strike, Boyle had a technician come from New Brunswick to help with repairs, but it soon became clear as the week went on just how many things were in need of replacement.
Boyle said everything that was hooked up to the Internet at the time of the strike was damaged.
That includes the main computer that runs the projector, the router, the printer and even an underground cable connecting the projector to the main stage.
"It just seemed day after day there was something new, but we think we're at the end of it now," said Boyle.
'No backup anywhere'
In the mean time, the drive-in had been relying on a system on loan from the Neptune Drive-In in New Brunswick to play movies over the past week — which had its own strange twist of misfortune.
"The drive in that lent us their back up equipment, their equipment went down on Friday night," said Boyle.
Boyle said the experience has been eye-opening on how much work is needed to get his drive-in back up and running if there's a system failure.
"There is no backup anywhere in the Maritimes for us to access," he said.
Now, Boyle's technician has been working overtime to install new equipment that had to be ordered outside of Canada.
Boyle said he's looking forward for things to return to normal.
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