The revived Golfland, which will include a revamped miniature golf course featuring a 32-foot dinosaur, is expected to fully open sometime next year, depending on when building supplies arrive, the developers say.
Located near the Manchester line on Hartford Turnpike, Route 83, the original version of the business — which included miniature golf, go-karts, an arcade, and a pitch-and-putt golf course — closed in 2014 after 50 years of operation.
In 2020, business partners Steven LaMesa and Jerry Fornarelli announced plans to bring back a modified version of the once-popular business, to include an ice cream shop, a barbecue restaurant, mini-golf, and bumper boats. The Planning and Zoning Commission subsequently approved the plan.
Originally, the developers planned to re-open the business in the summer of 2021. But delays in receiving needed building supplies have pushed back the opening date.
“With COVID going on, it’s hard to get all the material in,” Fornarelli said Thursday. “We’re working on everything, and we’re moving forward.”
One part of the revival that has gone forward is the ice cream shop, ConeHeads Creamery, which is now open for business, although it will close for the winter in October, Fornarelli said. He expressed hope that the mini-golf course, bumper boats, and batting cages will be open in May.
“It’s going to be a beautiful mini-golf course,” Fornarelli said, adding that it will be dinosaur-themed. He said the 32-foot dinosaur has arrived after a nine-month delay.
Fornarelli said that the planned barbecue restaurant, to be called Rocking Horse Smokehouse, is expected to be open around January. It will offer country-themed live entertainment, he added.
The restaurant will be built behind the Golfland site at 57 Hartford Turnpike in a building once used as a movie theater, Vernon Economic Development Director Shaun Gately said Thursday.
Gately said the developers decided to focus work on the restaurant before the arcade building because it is easier to renovate an existing building than build a new one amid current supply delays.
He added that a maintenance building on the Golfland site has also been completed, providing rest rooms for the creamery’s employees.
As for the future arcade building, Fornarelli is reluctant to predict the exact date it will open, as he is unsure when needed supplies will arrive.
“Getting the material is very hard,” he said, adding that he also wants to make sure that all the games arrive. But he said he hopes the arcade will open shortly after the mini-golf course, bumper boats, and batting cages.
Gately said that the current delays in receiving supplies aren’t unusual.
“They’ve been plagued with what everyone’s been plagued with,” he said of the Golfland developers.
Crews are expected to start work on the arcade building’s siding and roof Monday, Fornarelli said. He added that he hopes the building can be “buttoned up from the outside” so that crews can continue working on it throughout the winter.
For now though, Fornarelli is excited that the creamery is open. He added that seasonal ice cream flavors, such as pumpkin cheesecake and apple crisp, will be on the menu until the creamery closes for the winter.
Gately said the town is eager to see the Golfland revival through to completion.
“We’re really excited about the project,” he said.
