A museum collecting nearly 900 pinball machines will be moving from a site in Washington DC's Georgetown neighborhood to an expanded four-story glass-and-brick building in the heart of Baltimore's tourist district in November.
The National Pinball Museum's collection ranges from a 19th century French pinball precursor known as Bagatelle to some of the rarest modern machines.
The museum closed its Georgetown location on Labor Day, mere months after its opening, due to a change in leasing companies. The new, expanded location, in Baltimore's Power Plant Live tourist thoroughfare, will feature two floors of playable machines, as well as areas for private parties and educational programs.
The new site will cost considerably more than the $300,000 needed to open and operate the Georgetown location, but founder David Silverman
told Retuers he hoped increased foot traffic and pinball's increasing popularity would help sustain the new location.
"It took a long time to find a great space," Silverman said in a statement. "We were hoping that the [Georgetown] mall would allow us to stay here for a few more weeks, while we finalized our lease and prepared the space so that we could avoid having to be down for a long time."
Other American pinball museums include Asbury Park, NJ's
Silver Ball Museum, Alameda, CA's
Pacific Pinball Museum, and
the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, NV. The Professional/Amateur Pinball Association maintains
a collection of 450 machines that is open only five days a year for a tournament and charity event.
