Pinball Arcade Museum Celebrates Grand Opening Thursday

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Whether you play a mean pinball or not, The Pinball Arcade Museum will bring back memories for those who spent their youth perfecting their flipper technique and create new ones for a generation more accustomed to holding an Xbox controller.

Celebrating its grand opening Thursday, the Pinball Arcade Museum at 2313 Central Ave. in the Grand Central District of downtown St. Pete is operated as a nonprofit by pinball aficionado Andy Kline, who has spent years collecting the vintage arcade games now assembled in the museum such favorites as Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac-Man.

"This museum and dream have been a long time coming," Kline said. "I have been in the coin-op amusement industry for 40 years and have collected many machines. This sampling of machines at The Pinball Arcade Museum is the start to much bigger dreams I have for further expansion."

Kline said the Grand Central District is an ideal location because the district is home to so many other museums as well as a variety of restaurants, bars and clubs.

"We will be rotating different games during the year to keep things fresh, and will be holding tournaments and forming leagues shortly," he said.

The price is right as well. The museum is charging $15 for adults and $8 for kids under 13 accompanied by an adult for unlimited play on the museum's 60 machines on display at the museum

Proceeds will go to support Kline's nonprofit Odessa Wildlife Rescue and Sanctuary. Andy and Brenda Kline founded the sanctuary in 1992 to provide a home for hard-to-place animals. After outgrowing their sanctuary in the city, they moved to a 5-acre farm in Odessa where their menagerie includes dogs, cats, pigs, geese, a zebra, donkeys, goats, lizards, fox, raccoons, opossums, peacocks, horses, rabbits and cows.

The museum will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

To help Kline celebrate Thursday's grand opening, nearby Right Around the Corner Bar and The Dog Bar are providing dollar discounts on drinks to museum bearing wrist bands, so they can bring their drinks back to the museum.