Springfield, MA (1716 Boston Rd)



1716 Boston Rd was a ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurant located in Springfield, Massachusetts. It closed on June 18, 2020.

History
Springfield opened its doors on March 22nd, 1983 as the first and only ShowBiz Pizza Place in New England in the Haymarket Square with a Rock-afire Explosion show. It was originally a franchise-owned store. Unfortunately, there is very little to almost no documentation that exists back in the ShowBiz days. Though it can be determined that Springfield was one of several locations to receive an Uncle Klunk show package (and a Santa Claus retrofit package as well) sometime after opening. It had a typical SPP layout (Except for the Show being on the right side wall instead of the back wall as in most locations) seen in many other stores across the United States and would eventually receive the 1988 remodel years after it would open. Like many ShowBiz locations in the late 1980s, Springfield received the Showbiz Pizza Campground upgrade. On July 14th, 1990, Springfield was bought out by Corporate.

In the year 1991, Concept Unification was in full swing and Springfield would be one of a majority of SPP locations to undergo it that year and became the only location in New England with the 3-Stage setup. Sometime in 1993-1995, Springfield remodeled to either the 1993 Remodel or Phase 1 which involved the removal of elements from the 1988 remodel such as the The Blue & White Awnings, checkers around the store, & neon lights.

By 2002, Springfield replaced all the Latex Masks with plastic ones, except for Munch Jr. because he was removed during this time. Chuck's Derby was removed by 2003 to be replaced with the Cool Chuck cap. Pizzacam was removed in around 2005-2007. In 2006, a small fire broke out; damaging the show; Building & Moon were disconnected the same year. In 2006-2007, Chuck's Tuxedo was replaced with the Cool Chuck outfit. Then they received the 2005 Remodel in Summer 2009; which involved the removal of Showroom Walls, Balcony Seating, & adding purple walls. They also moved some games & the SkyTubes to where the Balcony Seating used to be (Before this, they were towards the front of the store); The small gameroom that used to be near the ordering counter was also removed as well. This also removed the large awning on the building during a remodel of the plaza. In around 2011-2012, Chuck's Cool Chuck outfit was replaced with the Avenger outfit. Chuck's cap was removed in September 2013 with the MMBB Sign being removed not long after On July 1, 2017, a small Chuck E. Cheese Fan Convention called Crittercon 2017 was held at the location with fans figuring out what was wrong with the show; with the store's Cyberstar glitching time to time, Building & Moon were also found behind the buildings after being decommissioned for around 11 years. In October 2017, Springfield would convert their show into a Cyberamic 3-Stage; replacing their bots with the Cyberamics from the Burlington, MA (10 Wall St) location which remained relatively unchanged except for the removal of Munch's cap. In June 2020, Springfield permanently closed their doors due to leasing issues & the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of October 2022, the location is still vacant with the frames of the letters & logo, & awnings up on the building intact.

Stages
Originally when the store opened, they had a Rock-Afire Explosion, which was the only ShowBiz in New England. In around 1991, they would undergo Concept Unification, this was the process used to convert the RAE characters into the Chuck E. Cheese characters. In October 2017, the stage was converted into a Cyberamic 3-Stage with Cyberamics from the now closed Burlington, MA location.

Trivia

 * This was the only Showbiz Pizza Place location to open in the New England region.
 * This was one of two locations to convert to the Cyberamic 3-Stage