Lake Grove, NY (110 New Moriches Road)

Sports Plus Exterior

Sports Plus was a family entertainment center that opened around August or September of 1996 with a Circus/ Fair-themed New Rock-afire Explosion Adventure Stage, and closed on June 30th, 2007.

History

Sports Plus was located in Lake Grove, NY on New Moriches Rd across from the South Haven Mall. There were two other locations in Cincinnati, OH and Delaware. This complex included a wide variety of fun attractions on 16 acres, like bowling, ice skating, rock climbing, laser tag, paint ball, an event center, arcade games, rides, and food. There was also an area called "Kids Town" for smaller children that housed the Fairgrounds-themed New Rock-afire Explosion Adventure stage. This was the only NRAE adventure stage to be sold, and the only fairground-themed adventure stage to be built. The show featured the three "main" characters, Billy Bob, Fatz, and Mitzi, along with Looney Bird and TV's on each side of the stage. It ran on a show-selector system as all New Rock-afire Explosion shows did, and did not feature karaoke. The center closed in June 2007 and had planned to auctioned off all of their assets. Supposedly, everything was purchased by one buyer on the final day of operation for a price around the $100,000 range. The whereabouts of the animatronics remain a mystery. Since its closure, the Sports Plus property has been split up between multiple businesses.

Thriller Coaster

In June of 2004, Kids Town was replaced with a new indoor roller coaster ride, and The New Rock-afire Explosion show was uninstalled. The fate of the characters resided in the ride as static props along with several other, miscellaneous Halloween props. Later on, they would lose their cosmetics and be displayed as bare mechanisms. The Thriller Coaster would eventually be purchased by an unknown buyer, then later sold on a amusement ride auction site to Clifton Hill Street of Fun in Niagara Falls, NY in 2019.