Location
Kiddie Kingdom was an arcade and pizzaria concept located in Niles, IL. It opened in 2009 and closed in 2020, and was owned by Isabelle and Micheal Nigro. Reference: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2020/07/03/kiddie-kingdom-an-indoor-childrens-play-center-in-niles-will-not-reopen-due-to-pandemic-owners-say/
Skate West was a roller skating rink located at 2333 Theodore Street in Crest Hill, Illinois. It has since been rebranded as Family Fun Zone, which continues to operate at the same address. It includes an arcade with a number of games. Originally, it was known as Rosalie’s Roller Skate, owned and operated by Rosalie Roderick, who passed away in…
Cozzi’s Adventure Golf & Games, formerly located in Lake Zurich, IL, was a notable family entertainment center that combined arcade gaming with other recreational activities. The facility opened in the Spring of 1999 and featured an array of attractions, including an arcade filled with video and redemption games, a mini-golf course, and other outdoor activities. It was not open long,…
Hidden Cove was an entertainment facility in Bourbonnais, Illinois. It featured a variety of attractions, including an arcade, mini-golf, and sports facilities. The establishment changed owners and its name in 2013 to The Legends Sportsplex. It closed in 2016, and the building is now home to a facility for the Adventure Christian Church….
An early and very popular arcade located in Chicago’s Loop, next to a large record store (Downtown Records) that opened in March 1974. The name was a portmanteau of it’s owners, Steve Rubin and Gary Buslik, two young entrepreneurs. Sometime in the mid-70’s, Rubin and Buslik also opened a place called Rubus Jungle, which supposedly had bumper cars and was geared toward youth. After the arcade…
Formerly located on Western Avenue, just across from Lane Tech High School at ~3400 N. Western. It was managed by Gale Vales in 1985. Reference: https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-interview-with-manager-o/169537944/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/17220794519/?multi_permalinks=10157756677134520&hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen
Enchanted Castle in Lombard, Illinois, has an interesting history. It opened in 1983, founded by Harold Skripsky, who envisioned a magical family entertainment center with a medieval fantasy theme. Over the years, the venue changed ownership several times. In 1993, it was sold to Discovery Zone, but Skripsky repurchased it in 1996. Later, in 1997, Ogden Entertainment acquired it, and in 2002,…
Galaxy Game Center was an arcade located in Palatine, Illinois. It was known for its amusement tokens, which featured a spaceship design with an atomic symbol in the background. The arcade had its grand opening in 1986 and was owned by John and Jannina Poulos. It closed sometime in the late 1990’s, when the strip mall that it was in was demolished and replaced with a Home Depot….
Friar Tuck’s Game Room in Calumet City, Illinois, was a notable arcade during its time, particularly in the early 1980s. It gained a certain level of infamy due to an incident involving the arcade game Berzerk. In 1982, a young man named Peter Bukowski tragically passed away from a heart attack shortly after achieving a high score on the game. This event is often cited as one of the first…
Sister bowling alley to Gala Lanes North/Galaxy World. Gala West also had an arcade but it likely wasn’t called Galaxy World. It was not as large as Gala North. Reference https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/what-happened-to-former-galaxy-worlds-games.233712/