Having a HeyDay
Tony Pennington
The Norman Transcript
The 42-year-old owner/operator’s hands flew as fast as his words when he described the finished product during a recent walk-through. The two-level, 7,000-square-foot laser tag area, the planned 50 video and redemption games, DoubleDave’s Pizzaworks restaurant and dining room featuring two large screen televisions, all but appeared among the dry wall and exposed metal frame and wiring of the more than 65 percent completed building.
He had yet to get to the 18-hole miniature golf course and large patio sitting beyond the unpainted gray walls. But it wasn’t difficult to understand the vision Little and business partner Trey Bates had in store when they began the development.
“We wanted to provide an upscale, classy entertainment option for the youth, young adults and adults of the Norman and Moore area to have fun,” Little explained among the stacked planks of dry wall in the middle of HeyDay Entertainment Center, 1-35 and Indian Hills Road. “We wanted to recreate a Dave and Busters kind of feel … capture a little bit of Dallas and bring it here to Norman and Moore.”
Little and Bates will discover if they have reached their goal when HeyDay Entertainment Center opens its doors this August. But the two are convinced they have the right mix of games and entertainment options to attract a strong customer base.
“This has been through about three years of development,” Little said. “Moore has never had a mini golf course. Norman has never had laser tag; and neither has had a DoubleDave’s pizza. There is a real level of excitement in the city about what we are doing as far as I can tell. We are a little bit of everything all under one roof.”
The concept of combining multiple strong elements also will extend to HeyDay’s hiring practices. Little said there would be three managers and about 30 part-timers. But the entertainment center is looking for more than just a warm body to regulate a laser tag game. Little wants people who care about their communities and will bring a sense of enthusiasm.
“I want people who are from the Norman and Moore area and are plugged into their community professional and socially,” he said.
That policy is represented in HeyDay’s first employees, Lynann Sterk, 31, entertainment center manager, and Keith Dinwiddie, 36, DoubleDave’s Restaurant manager. Sterk is a former Norman High School teacher and grew up in Norman.
Dinwiddie attend school at the University of Oklahoma and has worked professionally in Norman for about a decade.
Both managers viewed HeyDay as a challenge and as a worthwhile project.
“Part of the attraction is getting in on something from the ground up,” Dinwiddie said, who left a post as the assistant manager of the University Club at OU. “I’ve never had this kind of opportunity before. I’m looking forward to working in a fun-filled environment. Who wouldn’t want to be around fun?”
In the classroom, Sterk’s primary function was to meet the needs of her students, but as a Norman’s newest facilitator of fun, she will reach a broader audience.
“It’s a great opportunity to work and serve not only my community but Moore in a larger and different capacity.”
Sterk won’t leave the idea of education behind. HeyDay’s laser tag area is more than a light wave battleground.
“There is an educational program for kids about lasers and lights, and there is the Jeff Janssen program for team building,” she said.
Little said Janssenes program is ideal for business and groups interested in a 2-hour team building exercise. “Championship Team Building” was specifically designed by Janssen to utilize laser tag.
Team building also seems to be a part of Little’s approach to other businesses in the area. Russell and Robbie Allison are constructing Andy Alligator’s Fun Park next door. The 11,000-square-foot park will offer go-carts, miniature golf, bumper boats, a climbing mountain and arcade games.
Little welcomes the idea of having Andy Alligator’s in the neighborhood. He said it will help cement the idea of a vibrant entertainment atmosphere within Norman and Moore.
“I’m all for it,” he said. “They are providing entertainment options we are not. We are interested in developing an entertainment district … similar to the mile of cars concept.”
Both establishments are months away from the first game of laser tag or lap around the race track. There are still a lot of little things to get done. Sterk was dispatched to Buffalo, N.Y., to master laser tag by the folks at LASERTRON, and Dinwiddie will attend DoubleDave’s school of pizza making in Texas. While they will be busy, the anticipation might get the best of Dinwiddie’s daughter Cheyenne, 10.
“She’s excited,” he said. “I think she will be even more excited when she walks in here.”
When she finally bursts through the doors, will it be dad she notices?
“Laser tag,” Dinwiddie said. “She will do anything of a competitive nature.”
