Tyler Street Arcade Hopes to Be a Destination for Fun / iBerkshires.com

Owner Edward Krzysztof, left, and supervisor Robert Williams celebrating the arcade’s grand opening.

 

PITTFIELD, Mass. — Edward Krzysztof is hoping his new arcade will likely be a vacation spot for enjoyable on Tyler Street.

Tyler Street Arcade, positioned at 214 Tyler St., held its grand opening on Oct. 25 and welcomed the group to get pleasure from new and previous arcade machines.

“I said, I’m going to do something to help Tyler Street. And I bought the building in pretty much disrepair. We rebuilt it all, pretty much from the inside,” he mentioned. “And we all went to the town and said, ‘What can we do?’ And I said, How about an arcade for all the kids? And they said it was a wonderful idea. So that’s what we did.”

Krzysztof grew up in Pittsfield and spent quite a lot of his time at this constructing, which was previously Finn and Feather Pet Shop. He purchased the property as Krzysztof Properties LLC in May 2023 for $115,000.

“I was born and raised in Pittsfield. All my life. My grandmother lived right across the street on Pleasure Ave and my family house, where my mom lived on Glenwood Ave, just down the road here in Tyler Street,” he mentioned. “I came to this building many times as a kid, and it was more than just Finn and Feathers, like an aquarium for fish and a whole bunch of stuff. And I really liked the building. And as I was growing up, I said, ‘One day, I’m going to own this building,’ because I was really just infatuated with it.” 

Krzysztof used to go to an arcade when he was rising up. The venues have been notably in vogue by the Nineteen Seventies into the mid-Nineteen Nineties and provided pinball and videogame machines and different electromechanical amusements, typically for 1 / 4. Their recognition started to wane with the introduction of residence consoles and streaming. 

Kids who got here to the smooth opening the night time earlier than the ribbon slicing have been uncertain how the arcade works and Krzysztof mentioned he was delighted to show them about coin slots.

“My only experience is actually playing at the arcades when I was a kid, and I got friends that own arcades and this and that, and I just want to go old school,” he mentioned. “And it was funny, last night, the kids were here, and they didn’t know where to put a coin, they asked for a credit card reader. And I’m like, ‘No, there’s a coin slot,’ and so we’re teaching them.”

Krzysztof says this will likely be a secure house for teenagers to hang around and have enjoyable.

“The parents can rest assured, they’ll feel safe here, because there’s no smoking, we’re strict on what comes in here and we’re going to make it a safe place for the kids,” he mentioned. “That’s the biggest thing. That’s what I wanted to do.”

The arcade has round two dozen machines together with traditional video games in addition to some up to date variations, and accessible for adults and youthful youngsters.

“I had to have ‘Mortal Kombat.’ I always loved the punch in game, I never broke my wrist,” Krzysztof mentioned. “The beauty of it is a lot of arcades need to make money to survive. We give a little bit better prizes and it won’t cost as much for the kids and the families around here. So we got great prizes all the way up to an Xbox, and we’ll have other prizes, and we’ll adjust as necessary. This was pretty much a good start, and we are always looking for suggestions.”

On opening day, many youngsters and households stopped in to play some video games and take a look at the constructing. Krzysztof was reassured that they have been enthused about coming to the arcade and spending time with pals fairly than spending time on their telephones. 

The arcade’s basic supervisor Robert Williams was in control of renovating the inside of the constructing. He mentioned it took quite a lot of work however he is joyful to see it open and the youngsters having fun with their time with their households. He additionally mentioned they are going to be altering out video games so that individuals will be capable to strive totally different machines each time they arrive.

“It’s not a major arcade, it’s a fun, little quaint, you know, it’s got that charm to it. But, we’re going to rotate out games every month as we acquire new ones,” Williams mentioned. “We’re going to figure out ones that people want, acquire new ones and continuously rotate games out.”

The arcade can even host tournaments, and have an Xbox that may be rented to play there.

Tags: arcade,   video video games,