Driving down Murray Street in Newark, you’ll pass by several large, industrial looking buildings and likely wonder "What goes on in there?"
Some are home to large manufacturing businesses. Others are mixed used facilities or simply warehousing space. But at 235 Murray Street, something a little different is hiding behind its relatively unassuming exterior.
It’s a time machine.
Prepare to be transported back to your childhood as you walk through the doors of The Arcade Project.
The brainchild of Elena Kern and her boyfriend and partner Derek Horton, the nearly 9,000 square foot space is covered from floor to ceiling in gaming nostalgia. Nearly 200 arcade games and pinball machines welcome you with their flashing lights and all-too-familiar sound tracks, instantly transporting you back to the arcades of the ‘80s and ‘90s. If you’re picturing a game you used to play, chances are they’ve got it, and even better it’s just $15 to play as much Donkey Kong or Time Crisis as you can manage. Over 120 arcade games are on freeplay and if you’re looking for tickets and prizes, there’s over 50 token based games to play.
It’s a massive collection that all began with Elena’s desire to find a pinball machine she loved as a child: The Addams Family. They eventually found it, but that only sparked a desire to find more of these often neglected relics. Out of curiosity and necessity, the couple learned how to repair and maintain the machines. Elena said she was hooked.
"It’s a fun challenge to fix things that are broken."
What began with one machine quickly evolved into 20. As their collection grew, so did their need for storage space. 20 became 100. 100 became 200 and so on. So in 2019 the couple ended up in Newark, where over the next few years, their storage space became a full-blown arcade.
"We made it a business out of necessity," Elena said, and admits it took some convincing to get Derek to come along for the ride.
In 2023 they added a full kitchen and even offer craft beer and wine, making it a great place to spend the day.
"I want this place to be somewhere you go to forget everything else exists, at least for a while."
But it’s not just fun and games for Elena. She says she feels an obligation to preserve and maintain these machines.
"Once our generation moves on, who’s going to make sure things don’t get lost? I’m just hoping the younger generation feels the same way."
As you can probably imagine, finding replacement parts for some of the machines can be tricky if not impossible. They’ve even had to enlist companies to manufacture replacement parts, but Elena says they try to stay as original as possible. She pointed out one CRT screen that had to be replaced with an LED. "It just doesn’t feel the same."
So while Derek is still working full time during the week, Elena is usually hard at work ensuring everything keeps beeping and booping.
Their season in Newark typically runs October-May as the building does not have air conditioning, but this summer they moved the entire collection to Waterloo to stay open during the warm summer months. It took a 27 foot box truck 20 trips to move their collection.
Thankfully, most everything made it back unscathed and Murray Street is back in operation for their third official season.
The Arcade Project is located at 235 Murray Street in Newark and is open Fridays 4:30-9:30pm, Saturdays Noon-10pm and Sundays Noon-7pm.
They also host birthday parties and private corporate functions and can be reached at (315) 830-0034 or by visiting their website at thearcadeproject.com.
