ShawneeDispatch.com

A new entertainment center in Shawnee hopes to create the perfect balance of fun for both children and adults.

Power Play Entertainment, 13110 W. 62nd Terr., opened its doors in mid-March, and its owners are hoping to provide an experience unlike anything that the Midwest has to offer. The 80,000 square-foot entertainment center has something for everyone -- even groups with no children.

A go-cart course features electric go-carts for adults and junior racers for children. Right next door is a walled-in area for a game new to Kansas City called Whirlyball. Played in bumper cars on what resembles a basketball court, Whirlyball players use lacrosse nets to toss a ball and score goals at either end.

"It's kind of a crazy mix of all three (games), but people seem to love it," co-owner Charles Tulipana said.

Two game areas were made to look especially out of this world. Using paint that glows under black lights, local artist Julia Barton created a Mars-like atmosphere in the laser-tag room and is completing an underwater world in the cosmic golf room, which should be completed this week.

The game areas also serve as team-building activities for the corporate groups the entertainment center wants to attract. Tucked away in a corner, the corporate area includes several pool tables and conference rooms, as well as an in-the-works banquet room for up to 400 people.

When it's time for a meal or a snack, the center offers a pizza buffet, complete with soup, salad, pasta and a potato bar. Next to the buffet area, a cafe offers TCBY frozen yogurt and Starbuck's coffee.

The arcade area includes around 200 different games, and tickets earned from the games can be used in the redemption store, which is much more than the usual prize booth. Prizes include anything from huge stuffed animals to video games.

"We tried to make it more like a store, where you actually go shopping and pick out your prizes," Tulipana said.

Surrounding the central arcade games is a Kids Zone play area for younger children, and a streetscape area of party rooms disguised as storefronts looks out on a park-like area with several carnival rides.

So how can a center appeal to both children and corporate groups? Tulipana said the concept is already widespread in other areas of the country.

"In the South and West, there are a lot more of these; this just hasn't hit Kansas City just yet," Tulipana said.

The owners of Power Play visited several different entertainment centers, incorporating the things they liked best for Power Play and bringing the idea to the Kansas City area. The owners chose the Shawnee location after a long, exhaustive search in which they were nearly ready to build their own space.

Tulipana said that Johnson County and Shawnee offered the perfect demographics, and the location was conveniently located between two major highways. The former K-Mart building also offered about 20,000 square feet more than the entertainment centers elsewhere in the country.

Once all of the final touches are completed, Tulipana said the goal is to provide a place for school groups, churches and fund-raisers, as well as birthday parties and corporate groups.

For more information about Power Play, visit www.powerplaykc.com or call 268-7200.