How many tickets can you collect on the new Garden City kiddie ride? Collect enough and you could win a stuffed animal, a basketball or more.
The man behind Play Mania, Marquis Peoples, said the idea has been in his head since his son was a toddler.
“My oldest son is 15. I probably had this idea for 13 or 14 years, since I was little, just for him,” he said.
Play Mania opened in the vacant building that formerly housed Napa Auto Parts at 5659 Middlebelt. The interior has been completely transformed with fresh paint and major interior renovations to make it more kid-friendly.
First working in real estate with his wife who owned a handful of salons in communities like Wayne and Farmington Hills, he said he was simply looking for a building to buy and sell. When he saw the space north of Ford Road, Peoples said it was a great space to try to launch that vision he had so long ago.
After more than a year, he finally opened Play Mania in early summer, offering video games, bumper cars and, temporarily, bouncy houses and slides.
The space has all the extras you’d expect: a prize counter to redeem your won tickets, a cafe with traditional fare like pizza, and a couple of rooms for birthday parties.
The event spaces have become incredibly popular, Peoples said, and people were already asking for fall availability.
“We get calls every day about parties,” he said. “We’re talking about people booking in September. I had one person come in yesterday, she wanted to book both rooms because she had about 50 people.”
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It has taken more than a year to complete the work for various reasons: permits, obtaining workers, dealing with supply chain issues. The COVID-19 pandemic played a factor in many of the details. When Peoples learned he had secured the building, he himself was in the hospital with the coronavirus.
Although Play Mania has opened its doors, there is still much to do, Peoples said. This includes building a permanent play structure to replace the inflatables. These works will be carried out in the coming months.
“We’ll have trampolines, indoor playground, ball blaster, slides, a nice big unit,” he said. “This will be permanent.”
Business has been good so far, Peoples said, with many guests coming from surrounding areas such as Garden City, Westland, Livonia, Canton Township and Dearborn Heights, to name a few. You can find more information about the center at playmaniafuncenter.com.
In addition to the guests, Peoples said she has had several other special visitors at Play Mania: her two youngest children. His eldest, the one who inspired the center, has become an employee of the space, helping his father run Play Mania.
Having the center is something the two remember from time to time, Peoples said.
“We talk about it all the time,” he said. “It’s something that inspired me and my wife to do when I was little.
My younger kids can enjoy it while he’s at work.”
Contact reporter David Veselenak at dveselenak@hometownlife.com or 734-678-6728. Follow him on Twitter @davidveselenak.
