Funspot Family Fun Center (or just Funspot ) is an arcade video featuring one of the largest collections of late 1970s to mid-1980s games in the world. Located in the village of Weirs Beach in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1952 by Bob Lawton, Funspot includes over 500 video games, pinball machines, and ticket exchange machines; indoor mini golf course; 20-lane bowling ten-pin and candlepin; bingo cash; a restaurant; a tavern; and some other attractions for the reason.
Funspot is officially crowned as the "Largest Arcade in the World" by Guinness World Records at the 10th International International Video Game Games and Pinball Tournaments, held from May 29 to June 1, 2008. The Galloping Ghost Arcade at the edge Chicago has since called itself the "Biggest Arcade in the US."
Originally called the Weirs Sports Center, and located across the street from the Weirs Beach boardwalk, Funspot moved in 1964 to the current home on Route 3. There were 300 games from the 1970s and 1980s on the floor at one time at the American Classic. The Arcade Museum is part of the Funspot, with another 100 stored in the warehouse.
Funspot hosts several businesses and other tourist attractions on the grounds. The American Classic Arcade Museum is located on the third floor of the Funspot building, and the seasonal ice cream parlor and Monkey Trunks attraction are outside.
Video Funspot Family Fun Center
Histori
Funspot first opened as the Weirs Sports Center on June 27, 1952, on the top floor of Tarlson's Arcade building opposite the Weirs Beach boardwalk. Opened by 21-year-old Bob Lawton as an indoor miniature golf course and arcade penny with $ 750 USD borrowed from his grandmother. On the first day, the center opened it makes $ 36.60 from mini golf receipts and $ 5.60 from soft drink sales. A 9-hole mini golf round costs 35 cents.
In 1964, Funspot was created when Lawton bought 21 hectares (8.5 ha) of land, the same land where Funspot is now sitting, and moves his entertainment company there. The first attraction to be built is a mini golf course and an adjacent building. This course became known as the miniature golf course "Landmark of New Hampshire". A small clubhouse was also built next to the field, and in 1965 it expanded into a 4,000 square foot pool room (370 m 2 ). This is the first of several additions to Funspot.
In 1971, Funspot opened the first of two theme parks on its 3rd Route campus. Named "Village of India", it was described by Lore Indian Indian Association president, Red Dawn Head, in 1973 as, "A village of human-sized habitat - reconstructed from a historical blueprint, representing India's main cultural region in North America." from "Nookta Whaling Shrine," to "Mandan Earth lodge," to "Plains Indians Teepees." The Indian village was closed in 1983.
The second theme park, Storybook Forest, opened in 1976. The park is themed after the children's rhymes and children's fairy tales. One of the main attractions in Storybook Forest is "Gingerbread Man Pond", a pond made in the form of a walking ginger man, with two big buttons. The buttons are housed in the cottage and Robinson Crusoe's cave. There are also some fiberglass statues of story characters that are still visible throughout the Kids Funspot area. When the Storybook Forest was closed, all the attractions were removed with the exception of the red school house.
In 1980, Funspot switched from quarters to tokens. Funspot evolved over the years, opening satellite locations in Wolfeboro, Concord, Dover, and Amherst in New Hampshire, as well as South Portland, Maine, and Port Richey, Florida. By the mid-1990s this satellite location had been closed one by one, with locations in Florida being the last to be closed. It turned into another arcade, Stop N 'Play, which is still open. The bowling center, featuring both ten-pin and candlepin, was added to the Funspot in 1988, and the bingo hall was added in 1996.
Funspot was named "The Largest Arcade in the World" by Guinness World Records in 2008. One of the inner-city attractions, the American Classic Arcade Museum, has about 180 pre-1988 video games and pinball machines. In 2009, outdoor minigolf courses were moved into the room to the third floor and are now open all year round. Bob Lawton said, "When we opened it in 1964, we were the only ones in the Lake Area with a minigolf, but then some opened, and last year we decided we were not going to close it and we would keep it, it's historic, the building is fantastic."
Maps Funspot Family Fun Center
American Classic Arcade Museum
The third floor of Funspot is the home of the American Classic Arcade Museum.
Gary Vincent, an employee of Funspot and president and curator of the American Classic Arcade Museum, founded a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization with the aim of collecting classic games through donations to preserve the history of classic coin-op games. Opened in the late 1990s, the American Classic Arcade Museum is currently receiving game donations built no further than 1989. Previously the museum date ranges extended only until 1987; when asked in an article in 2008 why 1987 was chosen as the cut-off date, Vincent replied, "We set a cut-off date as 1987 because it's pretty much about the time when we see that the videogame industry is beginning to change.Rather than having a fantasy based game, puzzles, space shooting games or whatever, it seems to be switching to more than what I call the game 'kick-hit-shot'. "
There are 180 matches on the floor at one time. Billy Baker of The Boston Globe calls the "Louvre of the '8-bit' world museum."
From 1999 to 2012, the American Classic Arcade Museum hosts Classic Classic Video Tournaments and Pinball Tournaments, where people come from all over the world to try to break records in arcade games stored in museums. Referees from Guinness World Records are on hand to verify the recording effort. In the 10th tournament only, more than 20 notes are set. Records have been set in the American Classic Arcade Museum by famous players such as Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe, and Brian Wagner.
During the late 1980s, with the declining interest in arcade games, Funspot began to take the game away. Once the museum was founded, Funspot began looking to regain the games they lost. One of the missing games is the first video game to appear on Funspot, Tank II . It was installed around 1977 and sold in the late 1980s. Another copy was obtained by the museum, but it was not the original game used to be placed in Funspot. For reaccession games, the museum buys some on eBay and has been widely donated. Often, games that are not working or partly donated, and restoration work, sometimes year-worth, should be done to get them in the framework of work.
In 2007, part of The King of Kong documentary film A Fistful of Quarters was filmed in museums and other areas of Funspot.
Symbol
Funspot takes its name from a magazine titled the same that founder, Bob Lawton, read. Bob has stated, "I got the name of a magazine... When we asked if we could use that name for our business, they said it straight ahead." In 1965, the creator of the comic strip Archie, Bob Montana, drew a clown that appeared in every Funspot token. Montana, who lives in Meredith, New Hampshire, created a clown in the shape of his character, Jughead. Mascot Funspot is the dragon's "Topsnuf". The name "Topsnuf" is the word "Funspot" backwards.
Additional Ventures
Funspot has other businesses that are not associated with the "Fun Center". The recording of the Funspot website shows that at least from 2006 to 2012, some weekly charity bingo games - partially managed by volunteers - already have one of the relevant nonprofits as their beneficiaries.
The Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society and the Lake Winnipesaukee Museum are an organization and museum building located on the land of Funspot. Founded by Funspot President Bob Lawton and his son Tim Lawton in 1985, this museum stores information and exhibits on the history of Lake Winnipesaukee and surrounding towns. Many of the artifacts found by Bob and Tim from the scuba diving expedition are routinely made to the lake. The museum building opened in 2004, and the expansion is already in work. An additional 3,000 square feet (280 m 2 ) that resembles wood-framed warehouses have been designed and will replace adjacent garages.
The Weirs Times is the second attempt outside the entertainment world run by Bob Lawton. The original "Weirs Times and Tourist's Gazette" was published from 1883 to 1902. Bob Lawton began publishing a new weekly paper with the same Lake Winnipesaukee masthead and Lake Winnipesaukee map in June 1992. Initially focusing on cities around Lake Winnipesaukee, the weekly publication has been extended to a weekly circulation of 30,000. The Weirs Times is known for pouring most of its copies into Republican and Tea Party column columns to editors. Funspot began hosting the Miss Winnipesaukee Scholarship Program in 1969.
See also
References
External links
- the official Funspot website
- Funspot: Small Documentary in World's Largest Arcade Video at Vimeo, a 2016 documentary by Plaster of Paris Productions
- Classic American Arcade Museum
- Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society
- The Weirs Times
- Miss Winnipesaukee Scholarship Program
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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