Aug. 13, 2024
After design and construction delays, crews are busy turning a former rental space for sports in Harrisburg into a family entertainment center.
The owners of Air Madness are creating Union Social, which will feature bowling, axe-throwing, arcade games and a restaurant in the attached space.
“We’re probably looking at Oct. 1” for an opening, said Josh Anderson, director of finance and investment for the ownership group.
“For a while, we were hoping to be open awhile ago, but just like any sort of construction thing, things take a little bit longer than you planned, you run into issues that you need to get fixed, plan changes, plan modifications, which they just take time.”
The owners announced plans for the additional features in March 2023. The name “Union Social” came later and reflects the business’ location in a blue-collar industrial area, Anderson said.
The centerpiece of Union Social will be the bowling alley. Brunswick will arrive at the end of the month to begin installing 12 full-length bowling lanes. In addition to automatic scoring, the bowling’s computer system will feature different games along with regular 10-frame games.
Music and interactive lights above the bowling area will add to the ambiance. The wall behind the string pinsetters will be covered with projection screens that will show sporting events or “any sort of event on TV,” Anderson said.
There will be automatic bumper guards that families can deploy from the scoring system, which also will allow them to order food or drinks from the restaurants if a server isn’t nearby.
Bowling will be available by the hour.
For axe-throwing, there will be six lanes, which will feature automated scoring. Rather than a board with a target painted on it, Union Social’s lanes will feature projectors that display the target on the wood.
That area of Union Social will include a couple of pool tables and yard games in an indoor patio setting, with porch lights strung overhead. “The Yard” will be available to rent for private parties.
The arcade area, which will be closest to the doors into Air Madness, will feature about 50 games, all of which will be card-activated, Anderson said.
“One good feature of the company that we’re working with is you can load money on the card and you use that as your credit card within the space,” Anderson said. For example, if parents are bowling at Union Social and kids are playing on the trampolines at Air Madness, the kids can use the card at the concessions stand without having to come over and ask their parents for money, he said.
About half of the games will reward points that can be redeemed for prizes.
Union Social and Air Madness likely will have packages that will combine jump time with arcade credits. “It’ll be a good cross-sell between the two,” he said.
The new entertainment center’s restaurant and bar will offer “higher-end, bar-type food, your burgers, your sharables like your fried pickle chips, nachos, chicken strips, flatbread pizzas, pretzels and dessert options,” Anderson said. The bar will have a full liquor license.
It will be open starting with lunch, and once the kitchen closes, a late-night menu will be available.
There will be seating at booths, tables and around the bar, with room for about 70 diners, Anderson said.
Union Social will include a reserved corporate space on a mezzanine level that will look out over the gaming floor. It will hold about 70 people and include a private bathroom.
That floor also includes two party rooms, each of which will hold about 20 people. Air Madness has nine party rooms.
In addition to the sporting courts, the building also housed laser tag, escape rooms and Conquer Gaming. All those features are gone except for the video game room, which has moved its gaming consoles and PCs into Air Madness. The trampoline park opened in 2017 along Cliff Avenue on the north side of Harrisburg.