The biggest pinball arcade in Canada is set to open on P.E.I.
Prince Edward Island will soon become the unlikely home of the country’s biggest arcade dedicated exclusively to pinball.
Seven Graylands’ collection numbers 75-odds machines, 50 of which are going up at the arcade.
Graylands said it started with a group of pinball collectors who played at each other’s houses, but they told him his machines were the best.
“When I got to about eight or nine machines, and I was getting his feedback, I just basically said, ‘Let’s just open an arcade,’” said Graylands, owner of Seven's Pinballorama.
He tried to open one where he was living in B.C., but the city passed a bylaw banning arcades.
But his partner already had a P.E.I. connection.
“I have family that has been here for quite a while,” said Sophia Creuzcamp. “I also did a degree in early Canadian literature, so obviously that includes our good friend Lucy Maud Montgomery.”
She started coming to the island for conferences on the work of the "Anne of Green Gables" author.
“Every time I came back, it was a little bit of a joke just, because it was so beautiful out here,” said Creuzcamp. “We should sell the house and move to P.E.I.”
Graylands used to work in IT.
“I like the idea of doing something that makes people happy,” said Graylands. “Because I’ve spent the last 20 to 30 years with grumpy customers.”
Some of the machines date back to the 30s and 40s, while some are as new as the 90s.
Arcades have been gaining popularity over the past few years, after all but disappearing in the early 2000s.
Even though Graylands played them growing up, he said he's no pinball wizard.
“I’m terrible at pinball, like I really am not very good,” said Graylands. “I love it though because it’s just something that you can kind of get into, this world under this sheet of glass, and you can kind of just climb in there and just play around.”
You won’t have to feed quarters like you used to. Instead, customers will pay at the door to play all the machines.
Graylands aims to be open for customers before the end of June.
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