Story and photos by Hayden Yu Andersen
for West Seattle Blog

As we first reported last week, the Southgate Arcade will open July 11, offering vintage games, rare pinball machines and a greatly expanded private room for birthdays and events. With opening day just two weeks away, we got a sneak peek today inside the upcoming arcade, built inside the former Bank of America just north of Southgate Roller Rink.

Owner Josh Rhoads says it’s been a unique challenge to turn the building, which they had previously used for storage, into a functioning arcade.

“It spent four years as just a storage space, so we focused on trying to make it less sterile and bank-like,” Rhoads said, as he showed off the two-inch thick bulletproof glass protecting the teller’s station, which has since been repurposed into a storage room.

Something he won’t be covering up is the vault. Located to the right of the entrance, the steel vault will be repurposed to hold a rotating cast of more exclusive arcade machines, which visitors will be able to play while inside.

Currently the arcade has almost 30 machines, split between pinball and vintage arcade machines, with a few more on the way before their opening. The machines, much like the music, have been tailored to fit an ’80s and ’90s vibe.

A large portion of the space has been given to the 30-person private room, which is still waiting on finishing touches, including a wall-sized screen projector for games and karaoke. Previously we wrote about how this will expand on the 10-person private room in the Southgate Roller Rink. In addition to the 2-hour rentals, and the option of alcohol from the Southgate Roller Rink’s bar for 21+ events, Rhoads says that on days the room isn’t being used arcade-goers will be able to rent out the room for short, 30-minute intervals to figure out if they’d like to host a party or rent it for longer.

While it’s been a challenge, Rhoads says he’s excited to finally see it come together. Southgate Arcade will be open for all-ages play on Fridays from 5-11 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 7 pm.