Springfield, MA (1716 Boston Rd)

Exterior in 2010 before closure (PC: Michael S. Gordon / The Republican)

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, it can be determined that Pineville 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) 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 Blue & White Awnings & neon lights.

By 2002, Springfield replaced all the Latex Masks with plastic ones. 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) . 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.

Stage	Installed	Removed
Rock-Afire Explosion	March 1983	1991
3-Stage	1991	October 2017
Cyberamic 3-Stage	October 2017	June 2020

Animatronics

Animatronic	Serial	Whereabouts
Chuck E. Cheese/Rolfe DeWolfe	10-82 1-4	Owned by Private Collector.
Pasqually the Chef/Dook LaRue	10-82 2-4	Unknown.
Mr Munch/Fatz Geronimo	10-82 3-4	Owned by Private Collector.
Jasper T. Jowls/Beach Bear	10-82 4-4	Unknown.
Helen Henny/Mitzi Mozzerella	10-82 5-4	Owned by Private Collector.
Billy Bob	10-82 6-4	Unknown.
Pizzacam/Looney Bird	10-82 7-4	Unknown.
Munch Jr/ Choo Choo	10-82 8-4	Unknown.
Building/Sun	10-82 10-4	Destroyed.
Moon	10-82 11-4	Destroyed.
Antioch	N/A	Destroyed.
Wink	N/A	Destroyed.
Chuck E Cheese (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA.
Helen Henny (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA.
Mr. Munch (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA.
Jasper T. Jowls (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA.
Pasqually (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA.

Gallery

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  Exterior before 2005 Remodel (2003) (PC: showbizpizza.com)

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  Showroom with Curtains Closed (2003) (PC: showbizpizza.com)

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  Center Stage (2003) (PC: showbizpizza.com)

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  Stage Right (2003) (PC: showbizpizza.com)

Videos

(W.I.P)