Family Entertainment Center

[Shawn Juris]

Over the years I've heard a number of suggestions that Lakewood needs a youth center or a family restaurant. I'm trying to picture what it is that would be needed to attract the customers needed to keep something like this going. I've pictured a Chuck E Cheese for the 21st century where instead of focusing on video games and solitary entertainment, it goes retro and you can play truly interactive games with other kids that are there. You know the games that many of us "old timers" played like; spud or capture the flag or heaven forbid war or cowboys and indians. Add to it a menu that teaches kids that there are four food groups and that fries and pop are not really part of a good meal and it start to sound interesting to me. Too optimistic or something that could work?

[Justine Cooper]

OMG you wrote something that I agree with! Don't forget Centipede though. No Chuck E Cheese!! Remember those restaurants where you could throw peanut shells on the floor!!! A nice family restaurant with wholesome food and big screens for movies and little play areas and interactive games. I am in. Yes Lakewood needs that! The Holiday Inn in Richland had a restaurant with little tvs on the tables and a play area in the middle! We loved to eat there even though we hated the food. Where will you build this??? You would have to post a sign, you know, saying "parents required" of course. Can we also get another teen center for teens to go to hang out safely???

[Bobbie Hendrick]

Your peanut comment reminded me of the Ground Round that was like that in my town. I just looked it up, and found this on Wikipedia:

"Ground Round was well known in the 1980s for its children's parties and for passing out whole peanuts where diners were encouraged to throw the shells on the floor. The newest incarnation of Ground Round doesn't support such behavior and markets to the adult dining and cocktails crowd, although families are still welcome (a mascot called the Ground Round Hound, an anthropomorphic hound dog, appears on the kids' menu)."

So we need an Old Ground Round. or something like it.

[Shawn Juris]

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut, Justine. The ideal location, oddly enough would be if the Kaufman Development goes through. It would require the diamond and especially the green space behind the fence to remain. I picture it as the northeastern corner nearest that section of the park. What I'd like to see available would be the opportunity for the kids to play outside but there are issues there with security and whatnot. There are alot of aspects that I've been considering and it's not like anything has gone further than talking about it and posting it here. I've been looking for a commercial building that has a "yard" and the only one that I can think of is the Shamrock Tavern and I don't think that they're going anywhere.
Some other thoughts would be to use the building during the day for day care and open it for after dinner hours for events (like our own version of Big Al's but with better food). I haven't looked into the liability and additional expenses of doing something like this. Just curious to start if there would be enough demand.

[Stephen Eisel]

Shawn, in the latest issue of the LO, the article about Kaufman Park and the Beck Center talked about moving the recreational programming from Kaufman Park to three other parks. I interpreted this to mean that the baseball diamond at Kaufman Park was gone. (I may have misunderstood the article)

[Shawn Juris]

Dare to dream. If anything, maybe this will give some alternative for why a developer would want to maintain green space that can be used as recreation and not just for benches. But to get back on track, what would be provided at the core is a family entertainment center. Maybe the park space can be utilized for batting cages or something of that nature.

[Stephen Eisel]

Shawn, I did dream of having an IKEA store here in Lakewood but that dream was crushed earlier this morning The city should demand that some usable green space remain at Kaufman Park.