Planning Board Gives Stamp of Approval to Play Birmingham

Play Birmingham, the proposed entertainment center that would combine bowling, interactive video games, a bar, candy shop and restaurant, is one step closer to a reality. 

The Planning Board voted 5-1 to recommend approval of the plans at its regular meeting Wednesday night, with Janelle Boyce voting against. Carroll DeWeese was absent.

The plans for Play Birmingham are ambitious. The men behind the project, Eric Doelle and Ron Jona, want to integrate a restaurant, bar and interactive gaming area into one family friendly entertainment center. The complex is planned for 270 N. Old Woodward Ave., a 25,000-square-feet vacant space at the corner of Old Woodward and Hamilton in the Palladium building.

Doelle is the founder of the Dali Group, which owns , and the . He was not present at Wednesday's meeting.

The complex would feature a restaurant in the former Buca di Beppo location on North Old Woodward as well as a candy and pastry shop with an entrance on Hamilton. Downstairs would be an eight-lane bowling alley, bar area, four pool tables and interactive games including electronic golf, darts, basketball and perhaps even karaoke, Jona suggested Wednesday. The two levels would be connected by stairs and for the little ones, a giant slide.

“This is a proven mix of entertainment, games … a place that’s in an entertainment building and utilizes a lower level,” said Jona, a Southfield-based architect.  “It brings charm to a downtown area that you normally you would have to level buildings to achieve.” 

Play Birmingham was originally brought before the board Feb. 22, but it was pushed back so Doelle and Jona could collect information on crowd control. Several board members were still concerned with the number of people that would be exiting the establishment at closing time, particularly because it would be so close to the and Hamilton Room.

The complex’s proposed hours include a 2 a.m. closing time, mostly to accommodate bar customers, Jona said, though the bowling alley and pool area would have to close at midnight, according to city ordinance.

Even with so many people exiting the building at the same time, Police Chief Don Studt said he doesn’t foresee major problems. The intersection has few accidents, he said, the area is monitored by surveillance cameras and most of the loitering outside the theater now is “just kids being kids.”

Still, Boyce wasn’t convinced. “I’m not comfortable supporting it for a 2 a.m. close because of the streets,” she said. “I’m really concerned with the supervision of the kids.”

Jona aimed to assure board members that Play Birmingham would be prepared to manage and control unaccompanied minors — all of whom would have to leave the complex by 9 p.m. unless accompanied by an adult. He also pointed out that the Hamilton Street exit would be closed at night, forcing late-night customers to use the Old Woodward entrance — around the corner from the Palladium and Hamilton Room.

Several community members spoke out against the plans. Dorothy Conrad said she’s still concerned with the number of people that would congregate in that section of town. “I’m not thrilled at this,” she said. “So much of (these crowd problems) have gotten out of control recently and it’s not good for the city.”

The plans now move to the City Commission, which will decide whether or not to approve the project.