Things have gone from bad to worst for Lvičkov, the indoor playground in Máj. In August, the building’s owner Amadeus Real Estate had shut down the outdoor portion because it forgot that permits might be needed. Yesterday, though, the developer announced on Facebook that it was pulling the plug on the whole floor. There’s speculation that Lvičkov’s short life was due to a fatal mix of low demand and high prices. Kids tickets costs CZK 550, while adults could enter for CZK 150. The enormous Majaland at the outlet mall by the airport offers tickets for tykes of under 1 meter for CZK 350.
“We’re already working on a new project to utilize the entire fifth floor of Máj, including the so-called outdoor ‘klimatron,’ wrote Amadeus board member Martin Klan on FB (without explaining what a klimatron is). “Once it’s ready, we will release information on how it will complement the current offerings.”
The Máj shopping center reopened in June after a two-year renovation costing 4.5 billion CZK, with an imaginative mix of retail, restaurants, entertainment centers, and a rooftop terrace. The project gained notereity when huge Spitfire-like butterflies designed by David Černý were installed on the façade of the building. Two floors of the building are occupied by Levels, a 5,000 sqm space on floors 3 and 4 that’s devoted to a staggering variety of game and machines: 125 arcade games, six dart boards, 3 pool tables, shuffleboard, and F1 simulator, GT simulators, 18 holes of mini-golf and karaoke zones.
At the opening, Vacláv Klán Jr. spoke about exporting the entertainment concept. “We’d like to expand to other European cities, like London or Berlin. It doesn’t have to be nine full floors of entertainment, as we have in Prague. But we’d like to have a couple of floors in other foreign cities.”
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