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Posted Oct 19, 2013, 2:35 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 645
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RichTempe
Any idea what the tower crane on the SE corner of I-10 and Warner is for? I don't recall seeing anything on here about it. Just noticed it today, but wasn't able to get a pic. I'd guess it's about 80 feet tall.
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This?
Tempe entertainment venue in works to battle for family-fun bucks
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Competition is heating up — again — among family-entertainment venues near the convergence of Chandler, Tempe and Ahwatukee.
Work has begun on Main Event Tempe, in the Emerald Center northeast of Interstate 10 and Warner Road in Tempe, adjacent to Ikea and Dick’s Sporting Goods. A late-fall opening is planned.
Main Event Entertainment, based in Plano, Texas, operates 12 centers in Texas. This is the first outside the state.
“We chose Tempe because of the great piece of property and the great demographics with families and college students within 5 to 25 miles of the location,” said Amy Johnson, Main Event director of marketing.
The entertainment venue, on 6.4 acres, 55,000 square feet of it indoors, will include two-level laser tag, bowling, billiards, rock climbing, gravity ropes and arcade games as well as La Bella’s, a casual Italian-theme family restaurant, and two bars. Also planned are complimentary Wi-Fi, meeting space for events and VIP accommodations for corporate meetings and group gatherings.
Among Main Event’s attractions is Gravity, an indoor ropes course, which made its Texas debut at Main Event Frisco. Suspended 12 feet above ground, the attraction has more than 15 indoor vertical and horizontal challenges, including swaying bridges, narrow beams, and a field of nets and ropes to climb, balance and trek through, according to Main Event’s website. Participants must be at least 48 inches tall. The challenging gravity-ropes course includes balancing on beams and suspension in a harness above the activities below.
Pricing for the Tempe site’s activities is not set yet but it will be per activity with specials and group discounts available. The pricing focus at other Main Event venues has been on family affordability, the company says.
Work revs up on the complex just as UltraStar Multi-tainment Center at Ak-Chin Circle in Maricopa hits its stride after opening late last year. Also nearby as potential competitors are Airworx Trampoline Entertainment Center, 4960 W. Ray Road in Chandler, and Amazing Jake’s Food & Fun, 1830 E. Baseline Road in Mesa.
UltraStar, adjacent to Harrah’s Ak-Chin Hotel & Casino, shapes up as Main Event Tempe’s primary competitor in the region. All under one roof are UltraStar Cinemas with 12 digital movie screens, a Brunswick bowling center with 24 lanes in a split-plan design to accommodate leagues with space for other groups, Play ’n Win Game Center, Urban Arena Laser Tag, 347 Grill, Luxe Lounge for those age 21 and older, Cones Cafe for ice cream and rooms for private parties. Outdoors is a terraced amphitheater for concerts and community events.
UltraStar and Main Event Tempe, 8545 S. Emerald Drive, will fill a void in the region since Game-On, 15633 S. 32nd St. in Ahwatukee, closed five years ago and was converted into a Goodwill donation center and thrift shop, and Fiddlesticks Family Fun Park, 1155 W. Elliot Road in Tempe, less than 3 miles from Main Event Tempe, closed more than a year ago. That 19.5-acre site is being converted into a luxury-apartment complex.
High-school and younger college students in the area lost popular places to hang out when Game-On and Fiddlesticks closed, creating a void in appealing nightlife for those who are not of legal age to go clubbing but want more than a movie.
Site-preparation work is under way as Main Event awaits its building permit. Nikki Ripley, Tempe spokeswoman, said that Main Event is “well under way in the process of obtaining permits. … The permits are close to being issued.”
Once obtained, a grand-opening date will be set. A series of grand-opening activities is planned to appeal to its full marketing target, ages 2 to 80, Main Event’s Johnson said.
In the meantime, John Sparkman, project superintendent of A.R. Mays Construction, and his crew are grading the site and building up the level with tons of gravel deliveries. Sparkman will be requesting from Tempe a special 1 a.m. delivery permit so that foundation concrete can be delivered and worked before it sets. During regular daytime hours, traffic delays coupled with increasing seasonal temperature could sabotage their efforts.
Main Event Tempe will be hiring primarily part-time employees to staff the facility, with 150 to 200 needed as party hosts, greeters, servers, bartenders and bowling-desk attendants. Prospective employees must be 16 or older. Full-time managers also will be hired.
Johnson added that Main Event Tempe plans to establish partnerships with a charity and a recycling program to complement its corporate green initiatives implemented two years ago.
With its motto “Eat, bowl, play,” Johnson said that the biggest challenge is “making sure we hire noticeably amazing employees for our site … so we have over-the-top employees.”
Main Event has plans for another Phoenix-area location as it attempts to double in size over the next three years, Johnson said.
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