West Bloomfield — An iconic Oakland County arcade and video game museum that was gearing up to open later this month in a new West Bloomfield location has run into some structural issues which could delay its opening.
Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum, which operated for years in the Hunter’s Square shopping mall on Orchard Lake Road south of 14 Mile in Farmington Hills, moved out of its space in January last year and has been planning to reopen a mile north in the former Sav-On Drugs in Orchard Mall. Orchard Mall is on Orchard Lake Road, north of Maple, in West Bloomfield.
In a post on Facebook on Wednesday, Marvin’s said it had hoped to open in its new location by the end of May, but there is now an issue with the plumbing under the floor and some other delays that need to be addressed.
Crews “will need to trench the cement to fix this” plumbing issue, reads the post. “Things like this happen when going into a mall that been around a while and had restaurants which may pour things in the drain they shouldn’t.”
The post said the arcade was glad the problem was found now, so it can be addressed “instead of us opening and having close for this to be resolved.”
Marvin’s, which had been in its previous space since 1990 and is known for its unique mix of new and vintage arcade games, was forced to find a new home after Farmington Hills officials in 2024 approved a new planned unit development for Hunter’s Square that involved tearing down the previous mall.
The mall has since been demolished and construction has started on the new development, which will include a smaller scale Meijer store.
In February, Marvin’s, which was founded by Marvin Yagoda and is now owned by his son, posted about being “a little behind schedule and WAY over budget.” The arcade started a GoFundMe page to support its move and the new construction. As of Wednesday, it had raised more than $31,000.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Plumbing issue stalls reopening of Marvin’s Marvelous arcade in new home
Reporting by Maureen Feighan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
