Laconia arcade keeps it in the family for next generation of gamers

WEIRS BEACH — There can be some anxiety when the first generation owner of a particularly beloved business dies. Is it going to remain family owned? Are they going to sell and let somebody turn it into a condominium? We cross our fingers and hope the business’ future won’t be some radical departure from its past and present.

November marks four years since Funspot’s founder Bob Lawton died. Since then, his youngest son Dave Lawton, 58, has filled the family arcade’s general manager role. And while there haven’t been any big changes, the younger Lawton has made a point of restoring one of the arcade’s previously marginalized collections.

“Funspot’s reputation within the pinball community was shaky at best,” said Sean Sturgill, of Gilford, an avid gamer. “They had many machines, but a lot of them were in disrepair.”

Dave Lawton and Funspot’s technician team — run by his cousin and fellow second generation co-owner, Randy Lawton — acknowledged the pinball fleet’s attrition, freely admitting certain games like “Addams Family” had been played so much they’d become eyesores.

“That was one of the first games we pulled off the floor to be extensively rehabbed,” Dave Lawton said. “‘Addams Family’ is probably one of the most iconic of the games of the ’90s.

“We thought it was important to have that kind of preservation going on.” 

The arcade opened in 1952 as Weirs Sports Center, and is billed as the largest in the world.

Dave Lawton said his decision to refurbish the pinball machines came after he discovered the growing popularity of organized leagues and tournaments throughout New England. Funspot’s longtime employees then redesigned a previously barren space near the bowling lanes and D.A. Long Tavern into what’s now called the Pinball Outpost. The updated space boasts a leaderboard and shark cage.

They acquired new pinball machines based on enduringly popular movie franchises: "James Bond," "King Kong," "Godzilla." A brand new "Harry Potter"-themed game arrived in August, to much fanfare.

“It’s absolutely amazing. First five tokens I drop when I arrive go to Harry Potter,” said Sturgill.

Since the Outpost opened in 2023, Funspot has become a hub of the New England Pinball League, hosting a record number of players for the league’s finals earlier this year: nearly 200.

For details, visiti FunspotNH.com/pinball.

Casually competitive play

In a gloomy corner of the Outpost, Dave Lawton described as “somewhat sinister looking,” the team built an oversized shark cage to house the arcade’s new, 50th anniversary edition “Jaws” game last year. A projector flashes shark-filled ocean scenes onto the wall just behind the machine. Dave Lawton noted, “Perhaps these effects are minor by, say, Disney standards, but we tried to make it as exciting as we could nonetheless.”

The community is enthusiastic about the updates.

The day after Sturgill’s wife died last year, he took his 34-year-old son to play pinball. “We had kind of grown apart,” Sturgill said. “Didn’t have much to talk about, weren’t getting together often.” Now the father-and-son team try their luck at the leaderboard twice a week, including NEPL’s regular League Night on Thursdays. Sturgill added, “So the Outpost is very personal to me.”

“Sometimes the amount of effort we put in feels overwhelming,” Dave Lawton said, pointing to special lighting, and it’s vindicating to see it sparking joy and bringing locals together. “I imagine my dad must have thrived on that.”

Hybrid models

Over the last decade or so, Gary Vincent — founder and curator of the American Classic Arcade Museum on Funspot’s third floor — has noticed a national resurgence of arcades, though not as they were in the ’80s, when he first started in the business. “Now they’re an arcade plus a restaurant and/or bar. Barcades. Same thing has happened with movie theaters — they’ve adopted a hybrid model.”

Have the Lawtons had any inquiries from a hybrid like Bowlero or Dave & Buster’s? Though it may at some point make sense for the family to partner up with another company that wants to develop some of their sprawling 30-acre property, Lakes Region gamers will be relieved to know Funspot will remain a family affair indefinitely. “We realize that a lot of our space isn’t really being utilized,” Dave Lawton said. “As a family, we’ve pretty much sworn off taking on any new projects at this point. But if somebody like that wanted to come in and do some complimentary, hospitality-driven development, we’d be receptive.”

October's already been busy so far. The Pinball Outpost’s monthly open-to-the-public tournament was Oct. 4, with a James Bond theme. Then on Oct. 5, Vincent gave an annual lecture to a group of video game design students. This year, he lined up a Ms. Pac-Man designer to speak, another ’80s game that still gets a workout at Funspot. In addition the students, arcade patrons often head up to the museum — featured on the Travel Channel — to listen in, which is fine by Vincent.

While Dave Lawton doesn’t intend to inherit his father’s red suspenders look anytime soon, he does intend to perpetuate Bob Lawton’s vision until a ripe old age.

“I don’t know what else we would do, and everybody’s still having fun.”