Jonah Sandler, chief entertainment officer for Scene75, stands in the front of Scene75’s new location in Miami Township on June 10.

Jonah Sandler, chief entertainment officer for Scene75, stands in the front of Scene75’s new location in Miami Township on June 10.
By Kelly Doran
Editor

Construction is well underway at Scene75, which will open in the former Kmart location in Miami Township this year.

The second location of the largest indoor entertainment center in the country may open as soon as August 15, but Jonah Sandler, chief entertainment officer, said it also may not open until the beginning of September, depending on how construction goes.

The space currently looks more like a warehouse than an entertainment center, but glimpses of the activities to come are sprawled throughout the 90,000 square foot building.

“It’s gong to be pretty impressive when it comes together,” Sandler said of the $6-10 million project.

He is already building momentum for the new center through Facebook, where the Scene75 Entertainment Center-Cincinnati page already has more than 22,000 fans.

One activity that is already taking shape is minigolf. Scene75 will have two minigolf courses with nine holes in each course. One course will be an underwater theme and the other is an immortal jungle theme, Sandler said.

The courses will be lit with black lights that will make the paintings on the wall seem almost real, Sandler said.

Another area of Scene75 that has really taken form is “District 75-The Aftermath,” a post-apocalyptic themed laser tag game. Scene75’s vice president of marketing, Sean Cope, also an award-winning laser tag player, helped design the course.

The laser tag arena is 5,400 square feet and includes an upstairs and downstairs area with some holes so players can shoot people above or below them. There will be a factory, a commercial and a residential area of the arena, Cope said.

Other attractions will include “X Rider,” a 4D theater that shows a four or five minute film while viewers sit in a motion based seat, “Valkyrie,” a zombie apocalypse game for eight players to compete by shooting zombies, go-karts, a laser maze, a mini bowling lounge and a room full of inflatables for children.

“It’s a place for all ages,” Sandler said.

In an effort to be more environmentally friendly, customers will not buy tickets to play each game, but instead load money onto a game card that can be used for everything except food, Sandler said.

Scene75 will have other features beyond the activities, which include a coatroom, a bar, a restaurant and five party rooms.

The five party rooms can be opened up to create one large room that will seat 200, said Kara Anderson, party and event manager. Parties can be as small as 10 and as large as 200.

Customers can create custom parties, or let Anderson do the work. Parties can be made online as well as in person. Scene75 also encourages businesses to come and use the rooms for meetings, or choose an attraction and do team building at Scene75, Anderson said.

“We have something for everyone,” Anderson said.

The Dayton Scene75 location has numerous successful events that Sandler plans to hold at the new location, such as the trick or treat event that Sandler started when storms kept children from going trick or treating outside.

Dayton community members asked Scene75 to hold the event indoors, and Sandler said yes only six hours before opening his doors to children in costumes, he said.

The event was so popular even with such short notice that Sandler decided to continue it year after year, he said.

Involvement in the community is very important to Sandler, and he plans to reach out to area schools and charities. He also plans to open Scene75 once a month for all special needs children in the area to come play for free.

“Whatever we can do to help others is essential to what we are,” Sandler said.

Scene75 is a local, family owned business and was named one of the best places to work by the Dayton Business Journal, Sandler said.

Renovations are going well at the new location, he said.

“It’s been a tremendous journey,” Sandler said.

Scene75 is located at 876 State Route 28 in Miami Township.