Balboa Fun Zone’s Bay Arcade to close this month after 70 years
A young boy plays a video game at the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
NEWPORT BEACH – The Balboa Fun Zone may soon be a little less fun.
One of its main attractions, The Bay Arcade, which has been providing visitors with Skeeball, pinball games and entertainment for 70 years, is set to close Aug. 20 after the building was sold and the new owner declined to renew the arcade’s lease.
The arcade will be converted into space for Balboa Bakery and Doughnuts, which previously operated in the same building around the corner on East Bay Avenue until the landlord tripled its rent, said Alicia Kong, who owns the bakery. After purchasing the building, Kong said their plan is to bring back the bakery.
“I’m really upset,” Kong said Tuesday, Aug. 8. “I don’t want to kick The Bay Arcade out. We want everybody to stay here.”
Considered a treasure by many locals, the arcade has received dozens of calls from concerned residents about the closure, said arcade manager Jeremy Crawford, who has been working at the Bay Arcade for a decade — and was a frequent visitor as a child.
“People come down here year after year,” Crawford said. “I’ve seen kids grow up over the years.”
A mural adorns the side of a building near the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Diane, right, and Kathryn Fazzi take a selfie after playing their last game of air hockey at the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. The Fazzi family have a home nearby and have been coming to the arcade for 40 years. They said it’s sad to see it close. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Diane, left, and Kathryn Fazzi play their last game of air hockey at the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. The Fazzi family have a home nearby and have been coming to the arcade for 40 years. They said it’s sad to see it close. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The Bay Arcade is reflected in the glass at Zoltar’s booth Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Some of the video games are still for sale at the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
People play with antique poker games that have been sold at the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A young boy plays a video game at the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The Balboa Fun Zone carousel was moved to Westminster in 2011. (Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG file)
The Balboa Fun Zone celebrated it’s 75th Anniversary on September 24th, 2011. Gay Wassall-Kelly, 71, lets fly a skee-ball on one of the Skee Ball games at the Balboa Fun Zone. (Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG file)
The Balboa Fun Zone in 1944.
Thousands of tourists walk by the Bay Arcade Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 at the Balboa fun zone. The Bay Arcade is closing Aug. 20, 2017 after 70 years. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Visitors ride the bumper cars at the Balboa Fun Zone in 2006 before the ride closed to make way for the Ocean Literacy Center (Eugene Garcia, Orange County Register/SCNG file)
The carousel, which moved in 2011, was full of activity in 1986.
An old colorized postcard of the Balboa Fun Zone shows the scene in1943. (Photo courtesy Orange County Archives)
A bungee ride called Ocean Motion was running in 2012 at the Balboa Fun Zone. (Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG file)
Spill the Milk, Balboa Fun Zone, circa 1947. (Photo courtesy Orange County Archives)
A couple enjoys the ferris wheel at the Balboa Fun Zone in 1998. (Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG file)
Newport Beach was bustling in July, 1935. (Photo Courtesy of First American Title Co.)
Tourists visit a lightly attended Balboa Fun Zone in 2013. (H. Lorren Au, Jr., Orange County Register/SCNG file)
A sailboat passes by the Balboa Fun Zone in the1940s. (Photo courtesy Orange County Archives)
Ferris wheel riders enjoy the view from the top of the ferris wheel at the Balboa Fun Zone in 2002. (H. Lorren Au Jr., Orange County Register/SCNG file)
A bungee ride called Ocean Motion was running in 2012 at the Balboa Fun Zone. (Ana Venegas, Orange County Register/SCNG file)
Tourists visit a lightly attended Balboa Fun Zone in 2013. (H. Lorren Au, Jr., Orange County Register/SCNG file)
Tourists visit a lightly attended Balboa Fun Zone in 2013. (H. Lorren Au, Jr., Orange County Register/SCNG file)
The Balboa Fun Zone at night as seen from a tour boat in Newport Harbor in 2011. (Leonard Ortiz, Orange County REgister/SCNG file)
The arcade’s impending exodus is just the most recent of the Fun Zone’s extensive changes.
The most visible is the loss of the iconic carousel in 2011 when its lease ended.
Last year, ExplorOcean, a marine education center in Newport Beach, and Discovery Cube Orange County merged, giving birth to Discovery Cube’s Ocean Quest. The rebranded organization has since been on a mission to revitalize the aged seaside property.
The area that once had bumper cars is now home to the Ocean Lab, and the administrative offices now occupy the spot of the former Scary Dark Ride.
The arcade’s impending exodus is just the most recent of the Fun Zone’s extensive changes.
The most visible is the loss of the iconic carousel in 2011 when its lease ended. The ride was moved to Westminster.
The area that once had bumper cars is now home to the Ocean Literacy Center, and the administrative offices now occupy the spot of the former Scary Dark Ride.
Shirley Noel, a 75-year-old Burbank resident, made the trip to the arcade on Aug. 3 to reminisce. When she was a child, she said, her family rented a house in Newport Beach during the summer, which allowed her to spend countless hours playing Skeeball at the arcade.
In her purse was a Ziploc bag with uncashed tickets worth 3,000 points she’s won over the years.
“I wanted to come down and make sure there were some Skeeball machines so I can play one last time,” she said.
Noel played some games, in between snapping photos of the aged machines.
At other spots in the arcade, children and adults tried their luck with the yellow ticket crane and racing games, hoping to accumulate enough tickets for a decent prize.
Others honed their shooting skills at the basketball hoops, the air hockey table and the Fast & Furious Tokoyo Drift racing game.
In the back of the arcade, a Zoltar fortune teller machine sat next to a machine that squashes souvenir pennies.
Signs around the arcade thanked friends and family “who have supported us through the years.”
Patrick Moore, owner of the Ferris wheel just down the boardwalk, said some business owners hated to see the arcade go.
“Business-wise, of course, it’s one less thing here,” Moore said. “I feel bad for them leaving because they’ve been here for so long.”
Several of the arcade’s games are for sale, according to a sign near the front counter. Working Skeeball games are priced at $1,000 and non-working ones are half that. The photo booth is priced at $4,000 and the yellow ticket crane is going for $800.
As far as Noel is concerned, a bakery and doughnut shop will be a hard sell for visitors looking for a good time.
“We need fun things to do,” she said.
She considers the business a fixture in the community.
“It’s part of Balboa,” she said. “When I came down here a few years ago and saw the merry-go-round gone, I was in tears.”
