Funspot (arcade) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Funspot |
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Entrance to Funspot
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| Former names | Weirs Sports Center |
| General information | |
| Type | Video arcade |
| Address | 579 Endicott Street North |
| Town or city | Weirs Beach, Laconia, New Hampshire |
| Country | United States |
| Opened | June 27, 1952 |
| Relocated | 1964 |
Funspot is a giant arcade located in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire. It has one of the largest collections of video games from the 1970s to the 2000s. Bob Lawton started Funspot in 1952. Today, it offers over 600 video games, pinball machines, and ticket games. You can also find an indoor miniature golf course, 20 lanes of ten-pin and candlepin bowling, bingo, a restaurant, an ice cream stand, and kiddie rides.
In 2008, Guinness World Records officially named Funspot the "Largest Arcade in the World." This happened during the 10th Annual International Classic Video Game and Pinball Tournament.
Funspot was first called the Weirs Sports Center. It was located across the street from the Weirs Beach boardwalk. In 1964, it moved to its current spot on Route 3. The American Classic Arcade Museum section of Funspot always has 300 games from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. About 100 more classic games are found throughout the rest of the arcade.
Funspot is also home to The American Classic Arcade Museum. This is a special non-profit group on the arcade's third floor. Its goal is to save and share the history of coin-operated arcade games.
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Funspot's History
Funspot first opened its doors on June 27, 1952. It was called the Weirs Sports Center back then. It was located on the top floor of Tarlson's Arcade building, near the Weirs Beach boardwalk. Bob Lawton, who was 21 years old, started it with $750 he borrowed from his grandmother. It began with an indoor miniature golf course and a penny arcade. On its first day, the center made $36.60 from mini-golf and $5.60 from selling soft drinks. A game of 9-hole mini-golf cost 35 cents.
In 1964, Bob Lawton bought 21 acres of land, which is where Funspot is now. He moved his fun business there and renamed it Funspot. The first things built were a miniature golf course and a building next to it. This golf course became known as the "Landmarks of New Hampshire" mini-golf course. A small clubhouse was also built. In 1965, it grew into a 4,000 square foot billiards room. This was the first of many additions to Funspot.
In 1971, Funspot opened its first theme park on the Route 3 property. It was called "Indian Village." This park showed life-size homes of different Native American groups from North America. These included a "Nookta Whaling Shrine" and "Plains Indians Teepees." Indian Village closed in 1983.
A second theme park, Storybook Forest, opened in 1976. This park was based on children's nursery rhymes and fairy tales. One popular part was "Gingerbread Man Pond," shaped like a running gingerbread man. It had two large buttons that led to Robinson Crusoe's hut and cave. There were also many fiberglass statues of story characters. These statues can still be seen in the children's areas of Funspot today. When Storybook Forest closed, most attractions were removed, except for the red school house.
In 1980, Funspot changed from using quarters to using special tokens. Funspot grew over the years and opened other locations in New Hampshire and other states. By the mid-1990s, these other locations had closed. The bowling center, with both ten-pin and candlepin bowling, was added to Funspot in 1988. The bingo hall was added in 1996.
Funspot was named "World's Largest Arcade" by Guinness World Records in 2008. The American Classic Arcade Museum, located inside Funspot, has about 180 video games and pinball machines from before 1988. In 2009, the outdoor mini-golf course was moved indoors to the third floor. Now, you can play mini-golf all year round! Bob Lawton said the course is "historic" and has "fantastic" buildings.
American Classic Arcade Museum
The third floor of Funspot is home to the American Classic Arcade Museum.
Gary Vincent, who works at Funspot, is also the president and curator of the American Classic Arcade Museum. He started this 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to collect classic games. The museum aims to save the history of old coin-operated games. It opened in the late 1990s and accepts donated games made no later than 1989. Gary Vincent explained that 1987 was once the cutoff year because that's when video games started to change. They moved from fantasy or puzzle games to more "beat-em-up" style games.
The museum always has 250 games available to play. Billy Baker from The Boston Globe newspaper called the museum "the Louvre of the '8-bit' world."
From 1999 to 2014, the American Classic Arcade Museum hosted the Annual Classic Videogame and Pinball Tournament. People from all over the world came to try and break records on the arcade games. Referees from Guinness World Records were there to check the record attempts. At the 10th tournament alone, more than 20 new records were set. Famous gamers like Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe, and Brian Kuh have set records at the museum.
In the late 1980s, interest in arcade games went down. Funspot started selling some of its games. Once the museum began, it started looking for popular games from the past. The museum buys some games online and receives many as donations. Sometimes, games that don't work are donated. It can take years to fix them and get them working again.
The American Classic Arcade Museum has been shown in many online and print articles. It has also been featured on TV shows like Boston Chronicle, New Hampshire Chronicle, and Mysteries at the Museum. In 2007, parts of the movie The King of Kong were filmed in the museum and other areas of Funspot.
Funspot's Symbols
Funspot got its name from a magazine that founder Bob Lawton read. He said, "I got the name from a magazine... When we asked them if we could use the name for our business, they said go right ahead." In 1965, Bob Montana, the creator of the Archie comic series, drew the jester that appears on every Funspot token. Montana lived in Meredith, New Hampshire. He made the jester look like his character Jughead. Funspot's mascot is "Topsnuf" the dragon. "Topsnuf" is simply "Funspot" spelled backwards!
Other Ventures by Funspot's Founder
Robert Lawton, the founder and owner of Funspot, has also started other community projects.
The Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society and Lake Winnipesaukee Museum are located next to Funspot. Bob Lawton and his son Tim Lawton started the historical society in 1985. The museum has information and exhibits about the history of Lake Winnipesaukee and the towns around it. Many items were found by Bob and Tim during their scuba diving trips into the lake. The museum building opened in 2004. It now has a modern area for guest speakers.
The Weirs Times is another project Bob Lawton started. The original "Weirs Times and Tourist's Gazette" was a newspaper published from 1883 to 1902. Bob Lawton began publishing a new weekly paper with the same masthead in June 1992. It first focused on towns around Lake Winnipesaukee. Now, the weekly paper prints 30,000 copies.
