Chuck E. Cheese eyeing former Rick's Cafe Boatyard

T-Gibb · Post by **T-Gibb** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:50 am

"CEC Entertainment of Irving Texas, owners of the 500-store Chuck E. Cheese pizza chain have expressed interest in the site occupied by the former Rick's Cafe Boatyard. A spokesperson with CEC was quoted, "We recognize that in
the revitalization and growth seen in the North Downtown Omaha, a place that caters to the 3-12 year old demographic is lacking. We would like to partner with the city of Omaha to strengthen the connection between North Downtown and the Missouri River."

CEC is seeking to demolish the existing structure and rebuild on the current site with an 80 seat dining room with 3 adjacent 15-to-40 seat private rooms that could be joined to each other to make for a larger private space as well as their ability to be joined to the main dining room space.

"We see this as a worthy addition to service venues at the Century Link Center and TD Ameritrade Park. In addition, we offer to parents an entertainment product that the current restaurant establishments don't and for visitor's in the Old Market, an alternative. The hotels within a mile of our future location will no doubt have guests with children that would enjoy our festive atmosphere."

CEC Entertainment is currently engaged with City of Omaha officials in talks about these plans. The city is also engaged with two other private firms also interested in the location. This is in addition to Rick's corporate offices in Indianapolis that have been working with the city since the restaurant closed ostensibly for remodeling."

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:57 am

Why demolish and build? Is there not another open lot in North Downtown?

Troll · Post by **Troll** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:01 am

I smell a troll

justnick · Post by **justnick** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:00 pm

lol omg yes.
can we have an outside trampoline for tossing children in the river to die 'cause I hate kids. ew.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:51 pm

This definately sounds like a troll. Not even half believable. If it doesn't re-open as some kind of a restaurant, I was thinking, wouldn't that building make a nice visitor center for the city of Omaha? They could have a visitor information area with some nice clean restrooms, an area with some kind of dining option, and maybe a place where they rent bicycles.

bigredmed · Post by **bigredmed** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:21 pm

justnick wrote:lol omg yes.
can we have an outside trampoline for tossing children in the river to die 'cause I hate kids. ew.

Only if we can have a bigger one to launch hipsters into the river.

Think what the fishing would be like in Bellevue, with all that food washing down stream, human flesh previously fed only on fairly traded organic half-caf soy lattes and organic locally sourced veggie burgers, the catfish and carp would be HUGE!

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 4:32 pm

L&C Landing Concert Series featuring the Wiggles.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 4:50 pm

Coyote wrote:L&C Landing Concert Series featuring the Wiggles.

With the The Rock-afire Explosion opening.

TitosBuritoBarn · Post by **TitosBuritoBarn** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:42 pm

Rock Afire Explosion puts it down.

[youtube][/youtube]

MadMartin8 · Post by **MadMartin8** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 6:55 am

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:Rock Afire Explosion puts it down.

[youtube][/youtube]

This is beautiful.

T-Gibb · Post by **T-Gibb** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 8:29 am

Troll wrote:I smell a troll

Pull your head out and you won't be smelling yourself.
I double checked with a member of the Planning Department and they verified that CEC is still talking to the city. And she said that the guy that owned the Surfside Club is also interested in the property. So that makes for 4 interested parties.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:52 am

This is stupid. There will never be a Chuck e Cheese on that site. And they wouldn't be working with the city right now, anyway, seeing as how it would be a private purchase, no re-zoning or anything more than a construction permit required.

Post by **BRoss** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:55 am

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. There will never be a Chuck e Cheese on that site. And they wouldn't be working with the city right now, anyway, seeing as how it would be a private purchase, no re-zoning or anything more than a construction permit required.

But isn't the site owned by the city?

Post by **nebugeater** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 12:36 pm

It will be their new Concept

Check E Cheese Night Club.

Linkin5 · Post by **Linkin5** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 1:35 pm

Will Steve Minard be a primary investor?

Bob from Omaha · Post by **Bob from Omaha** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 4:50 pm

Linkin5 wrote:Will Steve Minard be a primary investor?

It's a Townsend project. 30-60 days.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:02 pm

Lets just rip the place out and build an observation tower in its place or something to draw people down to the river. We could copy the Space Needle in Seattle. How cool would that look? Seriously, I still like the idea of turning it into a visitor center, but I guess nobody else likes that idea.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 3:13 pm

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:55 pm

This has got to be a joke. I can't think of any other part of town that is so devoid of households with children. The thought of dropping them all in the river does have a sort of appeal, however. :;):

Hawkeye · Post by **Hawkeye** » Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:54 pm

Anonymous wrote:Lets just rip the place out and build an observation tower in its place or something to draw people down to the river. We could copy the Space Needle in Seattle. How cool would that look? Seriously, I still like the idea of turning it into a visitor center, but I guess nobody else likes that idea.

(dramatic musical flourish)

http://www.rchjr.com/vortex1.htm

BWUHAHAHAHAHA!!!

nativeomahan · Post by **nativeomahan** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:13 am

What the city needs to do is have a locally owned "signature" restaurant operate on Omaha's riverfront. It would be foolish to turn the keys over to some out of town operation. This is Omaha's front door, for goodness sakes. It establishes people's impressions of the city. Rick's was a huge mistake, a slow motion meltdown. Lets not repeat the mistake.

rumorcentral · Post by **rumorcentral** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:41 am

nativeomahan wrote:What the city needs to do is have a locally owned "signature" restaurant operate on Omaha's riverfront. It would be foolish to turn the keys over to some out of town operation. This is Omaha's front door, for goodness sakes. It establishes people's impressions of the city. Rick's was a huge mistake, a slow motion meltdown. Lets not repeat the mistake.

Then why go small (local) again?

At any rate, the current option is not small or local. Not sure how firm or likely it is.
You will be able to get a good, but very expensive, steak there.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:08 am

Well, that's good. I have no idea where else I would get an expensive steak in Omaha. And the chuck e cheese, rumor was ridiculous.

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