Columbia fun center celebrates final weekend in business

COLUMBIA - Family fun center Lazer Lanes will close its doors Sunday, but parts of it will live on in a new location.

"A guy bought it out from us," manager Katelyn Sterchi said. "He's going to move it over to the mall."

The Columbia Mall location will open in November under the name 'Level Up Entertainment.' While Lazer Lanes is closing to the public Sept. 1, it will host one final private group event next week.

"Our last is on Sept. 8, and then they're moving the lanes out starting September 9," Sterchi said. "It'll be right away."

Sterchi's father has owned the building at 3412 Grindstone Parkway for years.

"I know pretty much all the secret hiding spots in this building," she said.

In previous lives, the building was an ice skating rink, an antique mall and an indoor soccer facility.

Lazer Lanes has called it home since 2012. As Columbia has grown, the property Lazer Lanes sits on has become more desirable.

Sterchi said no plans have been finalized, but the building will most likely be razed in the coming months.

She said developers plan to build a mix of restaurants and retail on the site. She said she doesn't mind what replaces Lazer Lanes, except one thing.

"Not student housing," Sterchi said. "We have so much of that."