Luke Kirby, 6, bowls with his father Jake at Times Square Grand Slam in Tyler, Texas, on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

In a city that has attracted some of the largest movie theater chains in the United States, Times Square Cinema has been able to thrive from the support it’s received from East Texans and the Tyler community.

But while the local business was successful operating solely as a movie theater for 14 years, its owner, Howard Charba, long felt the city needed more entertainment options. 

So in 2017, the business broke ground on Times Square Grand Slam, a family entertainment center that features movies, bowling, laser tag, a ropes course, arcade, restaurant and more.

Charba said the expansion involved tying about eight buildings that surrounded the existing theatre together, as well adding space to the back of business. Temporary walls were built during the construction process so that the theater could remain open.

Since the end of February, all aspects of the business are now operating.

“The dynamics of it make it really easy for the consumer because they can go to one place and do a whole bunch of things and have a lot of fun,” Charba said. “It’s a kid’s play place in the morning and kind of a big kid’s play place in the afternoon or evening.”

Located at 5201 S. Broadway Ave. Suite 170, Times Square Grand Slam is housed in a nearly 70,000-square-feet facility.

There are 22 lanes of bowling, including six private lanes with a full service bar. While bowling, customers can order food and watch television on screens positioned over each lane.

The Infield Restaurant, located inside the facility, serves everything from breakfast, appetizers and brick oven pizza. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays the restaurant serves brunch. There is also a coffee bar.

In the area reserved for laser tag, participants will find themselves in a two-level room that was custom designed by Charba. Fog, sound affects and glowing pillars are a few of the game’s many features. Charba said there is also potential for groups to come into the laser tag room and be able to play curriculum-based games 

The arcade area includes around 60 games, many of which give players the chance to earn tickets from the redemption room. Prizes range from PlayStations to stuffed animals and various toys.

Last week, Siretha Toston was with her niece Aubrie Baker, 6, and Aubrie’s friend Katie Willis, 9, at the photo booth in the arcade. The trio seemed to enjoy their experience. 

“It’s a really great place to have fun,” Baker said. “My favorite games are riding the motorcycles and shooting the zombies!”

Others seemed pleasantly surprised by how much the business has expanded.

“You notice in an instant the difference in the space the moment you walk in,” Garrett Sandel said as he and Jessica McClure played a shooting game.

“It’s huge, and there are so many more games now,” McClure added.

Charba said the business is still at the stage where a lot of details, such as technological kinks, are being ironed out. He said the business has hired about 200 more employees since expanding and currently looking for more servers and bartenders.

“Our goals is to make every customer happy,” he said. “That’s very challenging when you have this many moving parts because people have to wait in bowling lanes, every order is not always perfect.”

As time goes on, Charba said he feels confident the business will continue to get better and better.

“We tried our best and I think we succeeded in making a facility that Tyler can be really proud of,” Charba said. “We did everything we could think to do to make it top-of-the-line, state-of-the art.

“Our team has worked so hard on it,” he added. “We have put in the hours.”

—Multimedia Journalist Chelsea Purgahn contributed to this report 

@TMT_Augusta

Located at 5201 S. Broadway Ave. Suite 170, Times Square Grand Slam is a family entertainment center that features bowling lanes, an arcade, laser tag, a restaurant and more. For more information about the business, go to tylermovies.com.