Clock runs out for square's Good Time

Arcade gives way to redevelopment

Alex Veillatoro, with Alex Jr., 2, plays Rage in the Cage at the Good Time Emporium, in the arcade's final days in Assembly Square. (Evan Richman/Globe Staff)

Standing inside the Good Time Emporium was like being inside a pinball machine.

Flashing lights, thunderous rumbles, the jingle of tokens rattling down a chute, pop music, and echoing yells filled the cavernous space. June 21 was just another Saturday night. Except it was the next-to-last Saturday night. After 16 years, Skee-Ball is making way for Swedish meatballs.

It's part of the city's long-term plan to redevelop Assembly Square into a center of activity, with a giant Ikea store at the heart of the project. Predemolition is scheduled to start next month, said Monica Lamboy, head of Somerville's community development department.

Patrons, looking at the immediate loss, felt melancholy.

"I love Ikea, but I can't go to Ikea Saturday night," said Laura Goode, a 22-year-old Medford resident who had celebrated her ninth birthday party at the place everyone calls Good Times.

"I think this place is the bomb," said her friend Jean Faldonie, 24, of Medford. "If this place is gone, what're we stuck to do?"

"There's no more Nantasket, no more arcades," said 39-year-old Medford resident Donna Blasetti, referring to a now-defunct amusement park in Hull. "They're taking all the good stuff away."

Despite a sign posted outside, the impending closure was news to some, including Rosali Hernandez of Somerville, 30, who was leaving with his family - six other adults and six kids. "We come every weekend," he said.

It was only on June 5 that the arcade announced it will close. Though the lease expired in March, manager Suzanne Rinfret said, it had hoped to get an extension. The arcade hopes to move to a space in Brockton that is three times the current 100,000 square feet, but hasn't signed a lease yet, she said.

Even at its current size, Good Time has offered a multitude of entertaining options. "That's the most important thing: There's more than just alcohol," Goode said.

Indeed. Patrons milled among the video games, beat-up Dance Dance Revolution, mini-carousel, batting cages, ping-pong and pool tables, Skee-Ball, laser tag arena, bumper cars, and giant grabbing claw.

A group of Tufts students threw up their hands and screamed on an amusement park ride. Dan Hurwit, 21, wearing sunglasses indoors, enthused, "There's no place else you can drink a pitcher of beer in line to ride go-karts."

The blinking lights and beeps don't draw all the attention.

According to Rinfret, none other than the Red Sox' Mike Lowell recently came with his kids. (No, she didn't see him in the batting cage.)

Terrance Smith, a 31-year-old Roxbury native visiting from Brooklyn, has kids now. But in days gone by, Good Time was "definitely a good place for a group of guys to come meet a group of girls."

Luke Stratton of Back Bay, 24, also emphasized the social element. "We're not here for the quality of gaming," he said, twiddling his thumbs as on a game controller. He and his three friends had discovered Good Time just the night before.

Along with making new friends, patrons also could snag anything from a paddleball to a television set with their prize coupons. Regular Stephen Reed of Winthrop, 25, has a home full of "big stuffed animals," he said, adding hastily, "mostly superheroes."

The city believes the new Assembly Square will replace paper tickets with real money.

When all's done - 10 to 15 years from now - the "urban village and commercial center" will bring Somerville nearly 20,000 permanent jobs and a net gain of $15 million in revenue annually, said a spokesman for the property's owner, Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Not everyone is buying it. "This building will sit empty for five years," predicted staffer Mark Hudgins.

Some patrons feared the void in nightlife would breed crime. Without Good Time, "there's nothing really for them to do," Blasetti said of young people. "They're just gonna get in trouble."

On the other hand, some see the emporium itself as a haven for crime. "There is no question that they have had the greatest number of calls for service," Police Department spokesman Paul Upton said in an e-mail.

According to Somerville police crime analyst Frank Bates, the establishment had 213 calls in 2007, including 11 fights, 15 injured persons, 15 motor vehicle break-ins, and 15 larcenies. However, it also has by far the largest capacity in the city, Upton said - about 1,500.

Hudgins said that despite an Easter dust-up, "there's really never been that many crazy things. . . . Just your basic fights here and there, but we always have details, so we're on top of it."

Annette O'Hearn of Somerville, 47, didn't need stats. "It's harmless and they're home at a reasonable hour . . . they're safe," she said while visiting with her son. "They're going to go out no matter what."

Now they'll have to go someplace else.

Brockton isn't an option for many of the current customers. "I'd have to take the train and stuff, so I can't go that far," said Reed's friend Karl Sullivan, a 22-year-old Medford resident.

Smith is feeling the same way about Somerville. Once Good Time closes, he said, you "might as well blow the bridge up. There's no reason to come across the river."