San Jose, CA (370 S Winchester Blvd)

370 South Winchester Blvd. San Jose, CA was the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre that opened on May 17th, 1977 as apart of Warner Communications Inc, and closed in February of 1985.

Stage

Winchester opened with a show consisting of Chuck E. Cheese, Crusty the Cat and Jasper T. Jowls in portrait frames. Also featured was Pasqually the Chef behind kitchen doors and the Warblettes on their own platform. Scattered on shelves throughout the room would be the Pizza Time Orchestra and the Clapper Board as well as various other objects. A more advanced bot, Helen Henny, would be delivered to the store on August 12, 1977. She would be replaced with Madam Oink in February 1978, and Foxy Colleen followed in October 1978. Around June of 1978, upgraded versions of Crusty and Chuck E. Cheese with more movements would be installed. As shown in 1979 footage of the store, the store's bots were not maintained often. Between 1980-1981, Winchester would replace their bots with Cyberamics.

History

Development of Winchester as a location dates back to 1976 under the name "The Big Cheese", "Pizza Game Center", etc. The venue was planned to be a 6,000 square foot venue with 2 arcades and a casino lounge. A total of $43,106 worth of games and rides were purposed alongside the Mood Box and a Theatre Program. The second location (later being San Jose, CA (1371 Kooser Rd)) was also being planned alongside Winchester at the time.

The spot chosen would be a 5,000 square foot building that Security Pacific Bank was moving out of. Drafts for a remodel of the building would be completed by December 22, 1976.^[1] By January 18th, 1977, the plans for Winchester were sent to the County of Santa Clara and were approved with minor changes suggested by the county. On March 3rd, The Planning Commission gave the go-ahead to Warner Communications inc. to begin construction.^[2] The Kooser Road store was also being proposed around this time, having it's location being voted on by the Planning Commission of San Jose.

Opening

An ad campaign was launched in local newspapers and radio stations weeks before opening to generate hype. Winchester would host a series of press preview parties days before the public opening where select members of the press and VIP members were invited out to see Winchester early. On May 17th, 1977, Winchester opened to the public for the first time and became an instant hit amongst the local community.^[3] Most people rarely saw working animatronics outside of Disneyland, creating a novelty that drew visitors in. Often on weekends, the place would be at max capacity with a line outside reaching around the sidewalk.

Post-Opening

As time moved on, Winchester would receive a large amount of guest visiting every weekend, having their facility at max capacity most of the weekends. In September of 1977, a new menu and game-room carpets were added to the store. When Kooser opened in 1978, a large majority of potential and current Pizza Time Theatre customers moved to the bigger and updated store. Although Winchester still had a sizable guest count and loyal patrons, new guests were few and far between. Four Corners would do a news report with Gene Landrum inside the Winchester building in late 1979.^[4]

On September 11th, 1981, Winchester would receive the 1981 remodel. The estimated cost of the changes would amount to 4,500 dollars.

Closure

Around February 1985, Winchester would close permanently for unknown reasons, however it can be attributed towards the slow decline of guests over the years. The building would remain vacant. By November 12, 1986, the building's owner would change to Lim Yee, who would plan to open a new Chinese restaurant named "Ocean Harbor Chinese Seafood" at the vacant Winchester plot.^[5] It would take several years of development with the renovation (including the interior and exterior) before being approved for occupancy (and assumedly subsequently opened) on April 19, 1987.^[6]^[7] It would remain open during the 90's, closing at an unknown date.^[8] In 2002, the building was demolished alongside the rest of Town and Country Village. The former plot of land is now a shopping center.

Arcade Machines

1977

Brunswick - Air Hockey 8'
Americoin - Junkyard,???
Midway - Boot Hill, 1975
Sega - Shooting Trainer,???
Pong Double-Kit - Atari,???
Breakout - Atari (Pizza Game Booth)
Dominoes - Atari (Pizza Game Booth)
Tank - Atari (Pizza Game Booth)
Sprint II - Atari, 1976
Night Driver - Atari, 1976 (Not to be confused with stand-up version released in 1979)
Indy 4 - Atari, 1976
Triple Hunt - Atari, 1977
F-1 Mach - Atari & Namco, 1976
Biorhythm
Puppy Pong - Atari, 1974
Cheese Crawl - Unknown

1979

Football - Atari, 1977
Touch-Me - Atari, 1974 (Not to be confused with handheld)
Starship 1 - Atari, 1977
Fire Truck - Atari, 1978
Unknown Shooter
Circus - Exidy, 1977
Orbit - Atari, 1978
LeMans - Atari, 1976
Lunar Lander - Atari, 1979
Atari Baseball - Atari, 1979
Sea Wolf 2 - Midway, 1978
Stunt Cycle - Atari, 1977 (Not to be confused with home-console port)

Pinball (1977)

Atarians - Atari, 1976
Night Rider - Bally, 1977
Freedom - Bally, 1976
Solar City - Gottlieb, 1977
Grand Prix - Williams, 1976
Captain Fantastic - Bally, 1976

Videos

Link	Description	Filming Date
http://www.showbizpizza.com/videos/vintage/fourcorners4k.html	A news report from Four Corners. Shows a good amount of the theatre, show, arcade rooms and the kitchen.	Late 1979

Gallery

Winchester before being built, the center small green plot of grass around the parking lots. (1960-1963)
Unknown Year
Unknown Year
Unknown Year
Unknown Year
Unknown Year
Grand Opening Promotional Photo (May 17th, 1977)^[9]
Grand Opening Promotional Photo (May 17th, 1977)^[10]
Grand Opening Promotional Photo (May 17th, 1977)^[11]
In Store (B&W, Cropped), 1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1978
1978
1978
1978
1978
1979
1979
1979
Exterior Sign (1979)
A shot of the store's entrance as "Ocean Harbor Chinese Seafood" (1990)
Satellite Imagery, Top Left- Fully Gray Roof Building (1993)
Picture of the store reopened as "Ocean Harbor Chinese Seafood" (1998)
Satellite Imagery, Top Left- Fully Gray Roof Building (2000)
Satellite Imagery, After demolishing (2002)

Animatronics

Animatronic	Manufacturing Date	Whereabouts
Winchester Chuck E. Cheese V1 (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown.
Winchester Chuck E. Cheese V2 (Animatronic)	Unknown	Owned by Travis Schafer
Winchester Crusty the Cat V1 (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown.
Winchester Crusty the Cat V2 (Animatronic)	Unknown	Owned by Travis Schafer
Winchester Pasqually (Animatronic)	Unknown	Destroyed
Winchester Jasper T. Jowls (Animatronic)	Unknown	Destroyed
Winchester Helen Henny (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown.
Winchester Madam Oink (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown
Winchester Foxy Colleen (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown
Winchester Warblettes (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown.
Winchester Pizza Time Orchestra (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown.
Winchester Flag Wavers (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown.
Winchester Applause Board (Animatronic)	Unknown	Unknown.
Chuck E. Cheese (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Sold off in the store's auction. Current wareabouts unknown.
Jasper T. Jowls (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Sold off in the store's auction. Current wareabouts unknown..
Mr. Munch (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Sold off in the store's auction. Current wareabouts unknown.
Pasqually (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Sold off in the store's auction. Current wareabouts unknown.
Guest Star / Helen Henny (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Sold off in the store's auction. Current wareabouts unknown..
Warblettes (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Sold off in the store's auction. Current wareabouts unknown.

References

[1] ttp://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/704/407/3407704.pdf

[2] ttp://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/705/407/3407705.pdf

[3] ttps://archive.org/details/the-gospel-of-st.-pong-revisited-vol-4-april-1977

[4] ttp://www.showbizpizza.com/videos/index.html

[5] ttp://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/021/470/2470021.pdf

[6] ttp://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/723/539/3539723.pdf

[7] ttp://csjpbce.sanjoseca.gov/ecmsviewer/022/470/2470022.pdf

[8] ttps://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.04.98/dining-9822.html

[9] ttps://archive.org/details/atariincbusiness0000gold/page/352/mode/2up?q=%22Restaurant+Operating%22

[10] ttps://archive.org/details/atariincbusiness0000gold/page/352/mode/2up?q=%22Restaurant+Operating%22

[11] ttps://archive.org/details/atariincbusiness0000gold/page/352/mode/2up?q=%22Restaurant+Operating%22

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