“In Fun We Trust” read the gold coins that serve as legal tender here at That’s Entertainment.
That’s Entertainment, a recreational center in Itasca, opened earlier this month. The real estate project is a family development in the purest sense-developed for families by a family on family land.
Located one mile east of Route 53 on Thorndale Road, the 23 acres have been owned by the Coghill family for four decades. For most of that time, Jeff Coghill reminisced, the land he grew up on was surrounded by cornfields.
But the parcel became prime real estate in the mid-’80s. Development took off in anticipation of the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway and a crop of high-rise office buildings suddenly sprang up from nearby fields.
During this construction flurry, Coghill was approached by several major development companies wanting to purchase the Coghill land, but offers were waved aside.
“I wanted to do a development of my own,” said Coghill, the 42-year-old general partner of That’s Entertainment, who operates a paving and asphalt business.
His dream: to create a recreational retreat for families.
It wasn’t until 1991 that Coghill began scratching this development itch. By then his concept had evolved from an indoor driving range for golfers to a full-blown family entertainment center.
But construction was complicated by funding. “My timing wasn’t the best,” Coghill said, referring to lenders’ lack of enthusiasm for commercial real estate ventures. “I would talk to bankers and they would turn and run.”
After almost three years of pitching the project to lenders, Coghill obtained financing for the $4 million project from Park National Bank.
So Coghill finally put on the developer’s hat. The result: a high-tech playground for kids of all ages.
Replacing the red brick Colonial house where Coghill grew up now stands a 14,000-square-foot “Family Fun Center” housing 75 video and electronic games, an indoor play area and restaurant.
Outdoor attractions include two miniature golf courses, bumper boats and go carts. (A nostalgic note: Coghill had the go-cart track built on the same site as his childhood go-cart track.)
And there’s more to come. Coghill is building a 102,000-square-foot sports pavilion that will house a 48-deck driving range for golfers, playing fields for soccer, softball, rugby, and lacrosse, volleyball pits and laser batting cages. This indoor sports complex is slated to open in October and will remain open year-round as will the indoor gameroom.
“The sports dome brings a lot to the project-it’s no longer a seasonal environment,” said George Feldmann, senior vice president at Park National Bank.
The family entertainment center industry has been booming for the past three years, said Joey Herd, president of the International Family Entertainment Center Association, an industry organization based in New York.
“There’s no hard data,” Herd said, “but based on what suppliers tell me, a new center opens about every other day.”
“Even in the worst economic times, parents still want to spend money on their children,” says Herd, who also is general manager of Galleria Fun Country in Birmingham, Ala. Families may not be able to afford a long trip, but they can afford a day of miniature golf and bumper boats.
There are some established facilities around the Chicago area, but That’s Entertainment is more extensive and sophisticated, experts said.
“Jeff is expanding on what is being done normally,” said Peter Olesen, head of his own engineering consulting firm in Mount Prospect which works with family entertainment centers around the country and designed the go-cart track at That’s Entertainment. “It’s something the Chicago area has needed.”
“We’re geared for the whole family,” said Coghill, father of three children: Christopher, 10; Jim, 12; and J.P., 15. “Whereas Discovery Zone and Leaps & Bounds cater to the 5- to 7-year-old market, we do the 5-to-70 market,” Coghill said. “We don’t cut anyone out of the loop.”
From planning to execution, That’s Entertainment also has been a family affair. Coghill’s son Christopher suggested the “In Fun We Trust” inscription for arcade game tokens. Coghill’s brother, Skip, is overseeing food and computer operations while his wife, Pam, is involved with marketing. “And, she vetoed some of my ideas-like bungee jumping,” Coghill said, laughing.
Crews worked almost around the clock at the end of July, trying to get the center completed in time for an investor party.
“It’s been frustrating,” Coghill said, referring to the past few months, trying to get the center up and running.
The usual construction chaos has been complicated by the fact that summer is high season for J.C. Blacktop and Midwest Tar Sealer-Coghill’s bread-and-butter businesses, which he operates with his brother, Skip.
“Of course, there are 24 hours in a day,” Coghill said with a sigh that suggests he’s been at work every one of them.
Choosing to develop the land as a family entertainment center puts the Coghills in the middle of an evolving industry that has been around in one form or another for about 40 years.
Herd said most such recreation projects originated as miniature golf courses, adding other attractions, such as go-carts and bumper boats, over the years.
The latest trend has been indoor gaming centers with modular play equipment for smaller tots, Herd said. The vast majority of centers, including That’s Entertainment, are individually owned and operated, he added.
While many of the activities aren’t new, rides are more aesthetically pleasing and safer. “They look better, they work better,” Herd said.
Herd hasn’t visited That’s Entertainment, but said Coghill is on track with the center’s mix of offerings, including what is known in industry jargon as “the fab five”-go-carts, bumper boats, batting cages, miniature golf and gamerooms.
A variety of attractions keeps crowds longer, Herd explained: “Length of stay is really important in this industry-the longer they stay, the more they spend.” A variety of games also helps increase return business.
Case in point: At Galleria Fun Country, one of the three miniature golf course was eliminated to make room for bumper boats and go-carts.
“We’ve doubled revenues and we’re doing more golf with two courses than we did with three,” Herd said.
At That’s Entertainment there is no entrance fee; visitors pay per ride, although packages are available.
“You’re in more control of what you’re going to spend,” said Andy Picard, general manager of That’s Entertainment, contrasting the center to pay-one-price attractions such as Six Flags.
Annual sales for family entertainment centers can range anywhere from $50,000 to $5 million, Herd said.
“It can be very profitable business and a very intense cash flow,” he said, noting profit margins can range anywhere from 25 to 50 percent on revenues, with sales ranging anywhere from $50,000 to $5 million.
“It’s win-win if you build it right and have the right components.”
Coghill wouldn’t disclose his financial projections except to say he hopes there will be enough to help put his children through college, which, given today’s higher education costs, implies some hefty revenues.
