There’s a car show and party planned outside the Blockbuster on the edge of Owen Sound this weekend.
Organizers Tom Pokorny and Cory Finklestein are calling it Blockapalooza.
Pokorny says he lives east of Owen Sound and his wife’s family is in Port Elgin, so he passes through town often.
“Imagine my shock when I saw an intact Blockbuster, which I beleive is one of only two in North America,” says Pokorny.
He adds, “I’ve always wanted to hold some sort of a car show or some sort of an event there before it disappears and this year we got the chance.”
Pokorny says he contacted the owner of the property and got approval to hold the event. It’s also being sponsored by Zehr Insurance and Hagerty Insurance.
He says it’s primarily a car show focused on 1985 to 2010 to reflect the time when Blockbuster was thriving. Blockbuster Canada closed its locations nationwide in 2011 following years of revenue decline, as viewers shifted to online streaming.
“So we’ll have some 80s cars, 90s cars and some cars from the early 2000s which may not seem like a car show worthy vehicle until you realize that they’re 20 years old at this point,” says Pokorny.
He says there is going to be a yellow Plymouth Prowler there and a Renault Clio.
There will also be hot dogs and popcorn.
Pokorny adds, “We’ll have some period correct computers. We’ll be playing period correct music, playing from iTunes on an old Mac,” says Pokorny.
You can register your car at blockapalooza.com.
He says they’ve got about 40 cars entered into the show.
It’s set to take place from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. (or until the weather dictates otherwise) on Friday, August 30th.
Back in 2020, an online petition was launched. It has garnered at least 3,300 signatures calling for the old Blockbuster location to be designated a heritage site. It was started by Andrew Stuart who thought it would be a great tourism draw. The store is technically in Georgian Bluffs Township, and the Mayor at the time, Dwight Burley noted the township didn’t have a heritage designation registry.
Bend, Oregon is said to be home to the only remaining Blockbuster in the world still operating.
Pokorny says he’s going to have the petition’s QR code there.
“I’d love to see the Blockbuster live on,” says Pokorny. “It’s just been sort of sitting there unloved for a long time, and I think a lot of us in the car community, we like to rescue unloved vehicles and bring them back to life and it’s almost the same thing we’re doing with the Blockbuster.”
“We just want to have fun, celebrate something that we’ve lost and sort of celebrate something that’s close to home,” says Pokorny.
He adds, “Sometimes really cool things are on your doorstep.”
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