March 16, 2023

Bowling, ax-throwing, arcade games and a new restaurant are coming to Harrisburg.

The owners of Air Madness plan to convert the building’s rental space for basketball and other sports into an expanded family entertainment center.

The indoor trampoline park attracts kids, so the project will offer something for the whole family, said Josh Anderson, director of finance and investment.

“That’s the whole reason for the bowling and the ax-throwing,” he said. “The kids can jump, and then mom and dad can throw axes or go bowling.”

The courts take up 27,000 square feet of the building along Cliff Avenue on the north side of Harrisburg.

“Courts rent for $60 to $90 an hour for 20,000 square feet, and that doesn’t pan out in today’s operating cost world,” Anderson said.

Plans are being finalized, but the space likely will hold a dozen bowling lanes and eight to 12 ax-throwing lanes, he said.

For the bowling lanes, the ownership group hasn’t decided yet if they will be regulation length or shorter.

“With the shorter lanes, there’s less space for someone to throw a gutter ball,” Anderson said. “People score higher, and they have more fun. We’re trying to be the most fun with the best offerings.”

The expanded arcade would have more games than the current offerings at Air Madness, which include a few “claw” machines for grabbing prizes, he said.

The laser tag arena in the complex likely will be repurposed for the new offerings, Anderson said. Conquer Escape Rooms and Conquer Gaming, which offers video gaming computers and consoles and virtual reality play, will remain.

The new offerings likely will have their own name since Air Madness is so distinctive, he said.

Also getting its own name would be the restaurant. The ownership group, which includes Storm owners Pat and Amber Garry and Frontier Climbing & Fitness owners Wade and Megan Randall, are talking with food truck owner Dean Marshall of Harrisburg.

Marshall envisions creating Sparky’s Burger Pub, “with a bunch of really cool burgers” and choices of beef, bison, chicken or vegetarian patties. The restaurant, which would have full liquor license, also would serve steak, “a new take” on wings, “high-end bar food for the bowling alley” and favorites from The Big Orange Truck like chislic and seasoned Stensland cheese curds.

“You have no idea how excited I am. It was really frustrating,” Marshall said of plans falling apart to take over Harrisburgers, which closed at the end of the year. “Having a win is a good morale booster.”

Renovation work for the project won’t begin until June 1 at the earliest because of court rentals, Anderson said. The plan is to have the new offerings ready by March 1 of next year, in time for prom party rentals, which are popular at the complex, he said.