FIRST LOOK: Dayton  bar arcade taking shape

UPDATE: According to Montgomery County Board of Elections' unofficial final results, voters approved liquor sales for DK Effect 329 to 108.

ORIGINAL STORY: Ms. Pac-man, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug and a computerized Steven Tyler  have a lot banking on Tuesday's election.

Two ballot liquor issues for the Huffman Historic District will impact of DK Effect, a barcade  (bar arcade) being developed by local residents Tony Clark and Joshua Brown. 

It will feature more than 40 games at a time including Revolution X,  a shoot  em up game featuring Steven Tyler and the rest of Aerosmith.

The games are being stored at a warehouse for the time being.

A "yes" vote would allow the business at 1600 E. Third Street in Dayton  to sell beer, wine and mixed spirits on Sunday and other days of the week.

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

The business is expected to open in March and feature craft beer.

There will also be video games consoles like Sega and Nintendo, pinball machines and boardwalk like games.

Brown and Clark hope to have a patio. Games will be played with tokens.

The pair have invested $50,000 to $60,000 in games including skeeball-style games from  Americana Amusement Park.

They acquired a semi truck load of games from Cincinnati auction lone.

Feedback has been sought from a diverse groups of people to refine the game inventory.

In an age of high tech augmented reality games like Pokemon Go,  Clark said preople still love video games from the 80s and 90s.

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

"It is a bit of nostalgia for people my age and certainly a little bit older," the 33-year-old said.  "It just a connection to their youth."

DK Effect is one of two bar arcades planning to open in or near downtown Dayton.

Rob Strong, founder of the 5th Street Wine and Deli at 416 E. Fifth St., plans to move  his deli shop  to the former East First Street home of Canal Street Tavern.  Strong's business will become the Canal Street Arcade and Deli.

Clark and Brown are cost and price analyst at Wright Patterson Air Force Base where they met.

Both also work in real-estate and restore homes.

<< MORE: BUYING A HOME IN DAYTON 

Clark said the project is part of an ongoing effort to revitalize Huffman and  nearby St. Anne's Hill, the home of the Fifth Street Brewpub.

He hopes DK Effect has a positive impact on Huffman as Fifth Street had on St. Anne's.

"I just wanted to created something unique to bring people in to where we already live and work," Clark said. "Hopefully over the next few years you see a lot more commence  businesses spring up (in St. Anne's and Huffman)."

Clark, a Fifth Street Brewpub founding member and its president, lives in Huffman.

Brown, a Miami Twp. resident, is rehabbing a home there.

"Huffman is really the next neighborhood to take off," Brown, a member of Fifth Street Brewpub's board of directors said.

Clark said Huffman resident have a can do attitude.

"It is part of our nature to rehab and restore and build something," he said. "We say why not us."

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

Credit: Photo by Amelia Robinson

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