Tim Hightower, a pinball enthusiast and set dresser for Georgia-filmed television and motion pictures, this week launched a Kickstarter campaign looking to raise $250,000 to open Atlanta Pinball Museum.
Touted as what could be the “largest collection of [pinball] machines in Georgia,” Atlanta Pinball Museum would be situated in West Midtown in a 70,000-square-foot, 1.43-acre building.
The exact location has not been disclosed.
“As soon as we reach our Kickstarter goal we can secure a lease and announce the location,” Hightower Friday told What Now Atlanta in a telephone interview.
In addition to a collection of pinball machines that is “constantly growing,” Atlanta Pinball Museum would offer a “modern lounge area” and cafe with “local beers and wine.”
Admission would be $20 per person which includes unlimited “free-play,” Hightower said.
A “simple, one-page” tapas-style menu will be offered with a few kid-friendly eats like chicken fingers and fries.
During the summer, Hightower and his team would host “food truck rallies” inside, leveraging the space’s 20-foot ceilings and airconditioning.
Julian Scalia, a film professional whose credits include Alien: Covenant, Prometheus, and Maze Runner, is behind Atlanta Pinball Museum’s design which is meant to feel like “the inside of a pinball machine.”
The first 500 Atlantans that make a $1,000 pledge ahead of the Kickstarter’s expiration July 1 will be gifted a “lifetime membership” to the museum plus a guest.
Other swag includes stickers and apparel.
“We figured that a great way for us to reward Atlanta Pinball Museum’s early supporters would be by launching a Kickstarter campaign like nobody has ever done before,” Hightower said on the Kickstarter page.
“From now until July 1 we will be offering a limited number of Lifetime Memberships to our museum. This means that you can play pinball in Atlanta for life. Once the Kickstarter campaign has ended, we will no longer be offering Lifetime Memberships of any kind.”
Atlanta Pinball Museum could open as early as winter 2018 with an ultimate goal of collecting 6,000 machines.
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2 Responses
Too bad that this neat-sounding attraction could not be sited downtown somewhere near Centennial Olympic Park along with all of the other venues in this area.
Article was very informative and I eagerly await the opening of Atlanta Pinball Museum. Where’s the kickstarter link, I want to check your progress?
Stated goal of collecting 6000 pinball machines doesn’t sound accurate. If 150 games were set up and working, it would be one of the largest public collections and considered a huge success. Can’t see a need to own more than 600 pinball machines, which would be 4 complete rotations of games in and out. That type investment in dmd/lcd style games would require almost $3M.