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La Crosse Tribune - Fun City opens in former Footwear factory

Fun City USA indoor amusement park opened Wednesday in part of the former LaCrosse Footwear Inc. factory on St. Andrew Street, offering such attractions as a large video arcade and pool tables, a Snack Shack with seating for 300, an 18-hole mini-golf course, batting cages, an arena for games and a paintball field.

Owner Lindsey Flottmeier said Thursday the business eventually will have go-karts and laser tag.

It is open to the public year-round and has 20 to 25 employees at the moment, Flottmeier said. "We'll probably need about 100 (soon)," she said. "We're hiring."

Flottmeier said she started the business "to help build up La Crosse and help families have something to do."

Last year, Flottmeier said, she bought about 80,000 square feet of the factory complex and five acres of land from Tarkman Associates Inc. The sale price was $340,000, according to county records.

LaCrosse Footwear closed its factory in June 2001 and moved the company's headquarters to Portland, Ore., later that year. In August 2001, it sold the manufacturing plant, factory outlet store building and some equipment to Tarkman for $1.1 million.

In one huge, newly painted room are the video arcade, which also has nine pool tables; a Snack Shack serving pizza, hot dogs, nachos, sub sandwiches, popcorn, cookies and breadsticks; the mini-golf course; and inflatable games for children.

In another huge room are a sports arena and three batting cages. "We'll have different types of tournaments and leagues, like dodgeball, basketball, volleyball and soccer," Flottmeier said of the arena.

People can sign up now for leagues in those sports in the paintball arena, which is in another huge room. In another room is a pro shop that sells paintball guns, masks and paintballs. Flottmeier said people can bring their own paintball guns or rent them at Fun City They are required to use Fun City's paintballs, to ensure no one is using frozen paintballs, she said.