Springfield, MA (1716 Boston Rd)

1716 Boston Rd, Store #476 was a ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurant located in Springfield, Massachusetts. It closed on June 18, 2020 as a Chuck E Cheese's with a Concept Unification Stage .

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. Like many other ShowBiz Pizza locations, it had a typical SPP layout (Except that the show was on the right side wall opposed to being on the back wall) seen in many other stores across the United States and would eventually receive the 1988 remodel years after it would open. Although some little documentation 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 Concept Unification Stage setup. Sometime in 1993-1995, Springfield remodeled to the SPT 1990's Remodel Program and revived Phase 1 (1994) 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 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 CEC 2000's Remodel Program 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 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 bankruptcy & pandemic. As of August 2023, the location is still partially vacant with the frames of the letters & logo, & awnings up on the building intact, with the right half becoming a liquor store.

Stages

Originally when the store opened, they had a Rock-afire Explosion , which was the only in New England that was in a ShowBiz. 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	Notes
Classic Stage	March 1983	1991	Only Showbiz Pizza location to ever open in New England.
Concept Unification Stage	1991	October 2017
Cyberamic 3-Stage	October 2017	June 2020	Animatronics from the Burlington, MA (10 Wall St) location.

Animatronics

Animatronic	Serial	Whereabouts
Rolfe Dewolfe & Earl Schmerle (Animatronic)	10-82 1-4	Owned by Private Collector.
Dook Larue (Animatronic)	10-82 2-4	Unknown.
Fatz Geronimo (Animatronic)	10-82 3-4	Owned by Private Collector.
Beach Bear (Animatronic)	10-82 4-4	Unknown.
Mitzi Mozzarella (Animatronic)	10-82 5-4	Owned by Private Collector.
Billy Bob (Animatronic)	10-82 6-4	Unknown.
Looney Bird (Animatronic)	10-82 7-4	Unknown.
Choo Choo (Animatronic)	10-82 8-4	Unknown.
Sun (Animatronic)	10-82 10-4	Owned by a private collector.
Moon (Animatronic)	10-82 11-4	Destroyed.
Antioch (Animatronic)	N/A	Destroyed.
Wink	N/A	Destroyed.
Chuck E Cheese (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA (10 Wall St) .
Guest Star Helen Henny (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA (10 Wall St) .
Mr Munch (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA (10 Wall St) .
Jasper T Jowls (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA (10 Wall St) .
Pasqually (Cyberamic)	Unknown	Destroyed. Originally from Burlington, MA (10 Wall St) .

Videos

Link	Description	Date Filmed	Date Published
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xlosPFo58E	A video of the Springfield 3-Stage a couple years after undergoing CU.	December 8, 1993	December 4, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPR_-g-GlXY&t=0s	Springfield a couple months after the last footage	February 26, 1994	May 2, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAS63Rkc2Lo	Footage of Springfield in the early 2000's	January 18, 2003	December 16, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwr8BTnfhbQ	''Birthday Extravaganza 07' being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage.	January 2009	June 6, 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzT6MTnSWxg	'Havin' A Party 01' being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage.	May 22, 2011	November 5, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGergFnE_HQ	'Fun for All' from Chuck E. Cheese's Winter 2015 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage	February 13, 2015	February 14, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUYQoj4-z48	'Dancin' Kitten' from Chuck E. Cheese's Winter 2015 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage	February 13, 2015	February 28, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q3awNIGVM8	'Chasin' Me a Truck' from Chuck E. Cheese's Winter 2015 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage	February 13, 2015	February 21, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyNxFLSc4jg	'Let's Have a Party' from Chuck E Cheese's Show 1 2016 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage.	January 10, 2016	January 10, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DESbnnf-so8	'Song Title' from Chuck E Cheese's Show 5 2016 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage.	June 30, 2016	July 1, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wihG5BTS9L8	'Out of This World' from Chuck E Cheese's Show 5 2016 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage.	August 1, 2016	August 2, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ifNsEydx28	'Song Title' from Chuck E Cheese's Show 5 2016 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage.	August 1, 2016	August 3, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X1YWPkGUdA	'Dream Big' from Chuck E Cheese's Show 5 2016 being performed on Springfield's 3-Stage.	August 1, 2016	August 5, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWqvKlc6Dl4	One of the last videos of Springfield's 3-Stage before conversion to Cyberamics.	July 2, 2017	July 2, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-NtEScUUig	A tribute video to Springfield after the 3-Stage was converted top Cyberamics	2003-2017	November 25, 2017

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 , along with Lynnwood, WA (3717 196th St Suite 100) .