Carnation Mall arcade to remain open until mall property sells
ALLIANCE – Double Play Arcade will remain open in Carnation City Mall for the foreseeable future.
Mike Ford of Double Play Arcade said he does not plan to move the facility until the mall property sells.
Customers will receive notice before the arcade leaves Alliance, he said, so they have an opportunity to redeem any tickets they may have.
“It won’t be lights out,” Ford said.
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Double Play will eventually head to Steubenville, becoming part of a new family fun center called 2021 Entertainment. The facility will be in the former Sears department store at the Fort Steuben Mall.
Ford said 2021 Entertainment will have arcade games, ax-throwing, virtual reality, party rooms and other entertainment options.
“There’s a lot of people who are actually willing to make that drive down there,” he said. “It’s about an hour and 15 minutes. … There’s a lot of people saving their tickets and credits and stuff to go down there and play.”
Ford said the goal is for 2021 Entertainment to open “early next year,” but that it has been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The mall property at 2500 W. State St. has not been sold. The city is in the process of finalizing a tax incremental financing (TIF) program that will exempt the owners from real property taxes for 30 years.
Mayor Alan Andreani previously said this is a “complicated” TIF setup that requires the city, developer FP Alliance LLC and property owner D&L Ferguson LLC to sign an agreement transferring the mall from the property owner to the city and then back to the property owner before it is finally taken over by the developer.
City Council adopted an ordinance in April authorizing Andreani to pay $1 for the city to take temporary ownership of the mall.
Double Play Arcade’s hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
For updates on the status of the arcade, visit its Facebook page.
Reach Paige at 330-580-8577 or pmbennett@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @paigembenn.
