Fun Facts You May Not Know About Showbiz Pizza Place in Owensboro, KY
I remember it very well. Most of us who grew up during the 80s here in Owensboro remember Showbiz Pizza Place at Towne Square North. It opened in the Fall of 1985 and featured just about everything a kid could want under one roof. Arcade games, Skee Ball, a giant air hockey table, a singing bear and his band, that gigantic pit of plastic balls and, of course, PIZZA!
I have a lot of memories of Showbiz Pizza Place. I remember birthday parties there. I remember going with some college friends from Kentucky Wesleyan College one time. But I don't remember much beyond that. I moved to Jefferson County in the Fall of 1991 when I transferred to the University of Louisville. A month after graduating, I moved to San Diego, California.
So, while I remember the early days of Showbiz Pizza Place's Owensboro location, I don't recall much of anything about the latter years and its ultimate closure. In fact, I'll be honest. I don't remember Showbiz even transitioning to an official Chuck E. Cheese's location.
That said, I recently stumbled across a new video history on YouTube. Using old newspaper articles, a collection of archived video and social media recollections, Nathan Spies has pieced together an audio/visual history of Owensboro's Showbiz Pizza Place and its brief run as a rebranded Chuck E. Cheese's location.
Take a look!
While I learned much from this video, there are clearly still a lot of questions about the final days of Showbiz/Chuck E. Cheese's here in town. Nathan, though he tried to connect all the dots with missing pieces, was unable to do so completely. There's a definitely a bit of mystery remaining about why the franchise's Owensboro location closed.
While I wasn't in this part of the country when it closed, I do remember being surprised to see a place called CiCi's Pizza in its place when I made it back to town. I remember wondering what happened to Showbiz.
So, what about you? Do you remember Showbiz Pizza Place becoming a Chuck E. Cheese's, albeit briefly, in Owensboro?