Brevard Live Pinball Palace On Babcock Street in Palm Bay Back To The 80’s Future The ‘80s was a decade of people, decisions and inventions that changed our future with iconic moments. It was 10 years of nonstop glamour, unchecked excess, ruthless ambition and explosive technological innovation that combined to produce the historic changes and global events that made us who and what we are today. The fingerprints of the decade best known for Pac-Man and the personal computer are everywhere in our daily lives: The first launch of NASA’s Space Shuttle triggered a technological explosion in global communications that now makes our worldwide love affair with smart phones and the Internet possible. Many who lived through those glorious 10 years get a nostalgic expression on their face when remembering those “good old days” - and Walter Gregg Young is one of them. And contrary to those who just wail in those memories, Gregg, that’s what his friends call him, kept these moments alive. You might say that he took the past with him into the future; never let go; the man who took the 80s into the 21st century. So how does it feel being a true 80s man? A look at his smiling face leaves no doubt - Gregg is a happy person, still fascinated by electronics that he encountered first as a teenager; and he soon discovered that he had a knack for it. “I loved to take things apart and put it back together,” he remembers. “Once I was consigned to my room and I discovered I could listen to TV via the Walky Talky. I was fascinated by the new technology.” His family owned an arcade on Apollo Blvd in Eau Gallie in the late 70s when Gregg was 18 years old. Before that Gregg worked at Winn-Dixie on the corner of Aurora and Wickham Road. “I used to go across the street in my lunch break to Snider’s Ice Cream Parlor that had two pinball machines,” says Gregg. Then one day he noticed that the ball kept sticking and offered to fix it. The owner gave it a shot, Gregg fixed the machine and got a free lunch that day. In 1980 Gregg started collecting arcade video games, he bought the broken ones, fixed them and kept them first in his garage, later in a warehouse. And while the golden years of the video arcade games started to dwindle down in the mid-80s, Gregg was holding on to his toys. One day - he knew it - people would re-discover this kind of fun. Young Gregg became a TV repairman, still doing what he loved the most which was electronics, but his fascination for pinball machines never ceased. Now, almost 4 decades later, he’s ready to share them with other folks. His new arcade, the Pinball Palace, is tucked away in a commercial complex right off Badcock Street close to Palm Bay Road, in the Auto Service Plaza. Pinball Palace offers refreshments while you play Gameboys, Starwars, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Atari 2600, Turbo Machine Racetracks, watch MTV videos and look at other memorabilia like Alf, the Smurfs, a talking teddy bear, Arnold Schwarzenegger etc. “It might not be everyone’s favorite pastime, but there are quite a few folks who love the classic video games,” says Gregg. “I can see grandfathers and grandchildren come in to show the youngsters where electronic games had their start. There is no admission fee, check it out and play what you like. Pinball Palace is open from 7 to 11pm Mondays thru Fridays, and from 11am to 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Visit them on Facebook at Pinball Palace of Palm Bay. 18 - Brevard Live April 2019
Brevard Live April 2019 - 19