For a heavy dose of nostalgia - or the chance to expose a generation raised on technology to the tactile game of pinball - the new Classic Arcade Pinball Museum downtown is a great way to while away a few hours (or an entire day).
It's easy to lose track of time amongst the flashing lights and pinging sounds of the dozens of different games attempting to draw you in. "I don't think people realize how long they end up playing," says Michael Rowland, who co-owns the museum with Dave Alverson.
Rather than exhibits behind glass or other barriers, the interactive museum features just shy of 40 classic pinball machines produced between the 1930s and 2016, most of which are playable.
Over the past year, the duo has traveled the country purchasing the machines from private collections, where most ended up when arcades started closing down in the '80s. People can pay by the hour or the day for unlimited play, with the ability to come and go as they choose. Rowland says most people who pay the hourly rate end up springing for the all-day pass, once he taps on their shoulder to let them know their time is up.
Chattanooga's Classic Arcade Pinball Museum is among a crop of similar establishments popping up over the past few years from New York to Wisconsin to California. There's a pinball museum in Asheville and Gatlinburg, and one opening soon in Atlanta.
Indeed, pinball seems to be experiencing a surge in popularity and, luckily for fans of the game, Chattanooga is on top of the trend. There's a limited supply of these machines in good condition, Rowland says, and he and Alverson have snapped up several dozen.
Their finds include "Hercules," which at 83-by-93 inches with an 18-square-foot playfield, is the largest machine (other than just a prototype) ever made. The museum's is one of very few in existence that's in working condition, says Alverson.
They have several machines by the company Spooky Pinball, including a Domino's branded one and "America's Most Haunted," a spoof on the haunting shows shown on cable TV. The latter is Alverson's favorite due to its complicated nature. Less than 150 of each were produced - a very small number, especially compared to the more than 20,000 machines produced of "The Addams Family" game, the most popular pinball machine of all time and a customer favorite at the museum, he says.
"Orbitor," a machine from 1982, is also rarely found in playable condition. The "Humpty Dumpty" from 1942, one of the museum's oldest machines, was the first to feature electric flippers, Alverson says, and "Gorgar," from 1979, was the first machine that spoke.
Alverson, who also works full time as an engineer for TVA, has personally repaired each machine. He's been playing since he was a kid, and his first job was as a technician at the arcade at Eastgate Mall. "I had kind of forgotten about pinball over the years," he says. That changed last year, when he took his 8-year-old son on a spring break trip to Asheville and visited the Asheville Pinball Museum. He loved the concept and felt Chattanooga, which has a similar downtown vibe, would be a good place to open something similar.
Rowland agreed. He also owns Escape Experience Chattanooga and met Alverson at ChattLab, a makerspace in the Business Development Center.
The family-friendly museum sells soft drinks and snacks, and recently added bottled beer. But a barcade concept is not what they're going for, Rowland emphasizes. "The goal was to create a great place for families to have fun together," he says, adding that nearly half of customers are kids. Parents often play with their children, either by trading turns or by one person taking the left flipper and the other controlling the right.
Located on Broad Street among lots of restaurants and hotels, the museum provides an entertaining diversion that all ages of tourists and locals alike are welcoming with open arms and flicks of the wrist.