Checking out 3rd Lair, Minnesota’s Biggest Skate Park with Pinball Machines

Nudge Magazine (website feed)·article·analyzed·Aug 13, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.018

TL;DR

3rd Lair skate park adds 10 pinball machines, hosts first tournament with 18 players.

Summary

Rick Brewster explores 3rd Lair, Minnesota's largest indoor skate park, which has recently added pinball machines to its venue. Operator Mark Rodriguez partnered with Phil Frazier to install 10 pinball machines (EMs and solid states from 1976–1986) in a dedicated room beneath a ramp structure. The venue hosted its inaugural pinball tournament with 18 players and represents a rare intersection of skateboarding and pinball culture.

Key Claims

3rd Lair is Minnesota's largest indoor skate park at just under 20,000 square feet
high confidence · Rick Brewster, author, describing the venue directly
Phil Frazier placed 5 pinball machines initially, now expanded to 10 total
high confidence · Rick Brewster describing conversation with Mark Rodriguez and personal observation
Machines are EMs and solid states only, spanning 1976–1986 (10-year window)
high confidence · Rick Brewster directly stating machine specifications
3rd Lair previously had arcade games (720, Cruisin' USA, shooters) but removed them due to maintenance costs
high confidence · Rick Brewster reporting from conversation with Mark Rodriguez
Phil Frazier hosted 3rd Lair's inaugural pinball tournament with 18 players on June 27th
high confidence · Rick Brewster describing the event
A homebrew Tony Hawk pinball machine won TWIPY homebrew of the year in 2024
medium confidence · Rick Brewster mentioning pinball/skateboarding intersection; TWIPY reference suggests credible award but no specific builder name given
Vision Arcade & Skateshop is another skatepark/skateshop/pinball establishment, 30 minutes outside Minneapolis
high confidence · Rick Brewster providing honorable mention and description

Notable Quotes

“There's not many folks in the middle of the venn diagram of skateboarders & pinball players, but I'm one of them. I'm over the moon!”
Rick Brewster @ N/A — Author expressing personal enthusiasm for the convergence of two niche hobbies; sets tone for article
“Having a ton of space doesn't automatically make a place ideal for pinball: the enjoyment factor of pinball machines per square foot has to look pretty bell curve-y, right?”
Rick Brewster @ N/A — Thoughtful observation about venue design constraints for pinball integration
“EMs and solid states only: there's a 10 year window of games represented, from '76 to '86.”
Rick Brewster @ N/A — Specific machine selection strategy; emphasizes classic/vintage focus
“Cruising a park for a couple minutes in between tourney rounds is honestly a dream scenario, sweat be damned.”
Rick Brewster @ N/A — Personal perspective on unique experience enabled by venue convergence
“These pinball and hobby intersections aren't the most common, and they should be celebrated.”
Rick Brewster @ N/A — Article's closing thesis; advocates for unique cross-hobby venues

Entities

Rick BrewsterpersonPhil FrazierpersonMark Rodriguezperson3rd LairvenueVision Arcade & SkateshopvenueJason ZahlerpersonJared AugustpersonNeil GrafpersonTony HawkpersonNudge Magazineorganization

Signals

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venue_signal: 3rd Lair skate park added 10 pinball machines (EMs/solid states from 1976–1986) to dedicated room; represents expansion of pinball into non-traditional venues
high · Phil Frazier placed initial 5 machines, now 10 total; venue has 20k sq ft and natural player congregation point
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event_signal: Phil Frazier hosted 3rd Lair's inaugural pinball tournament on June 27th with 18 players including skateboarders and rollerbladers
high · Rick Brewster notes 18-player tournament, mixed participant backgrounds; described as successful inaugural event
?
community_signal: Emergence of venues serving dual pinball and skateboarding communities; author identifies only two major examples in Twin Cities area (3rd Lair and Vision Arcade & Skateshop)
high · Article explicitly highlights rarity of pinball/skate intersections; calls for celebration of such spaces
?
venue_signal: 3rd Lair deliberately selected EM and solid state machines only (1976–1986 window); excludes modern DMD/LCD games
high · Rick Brewster specifies 'EMs and solid states only: there's a 10 year window of games represented, from '76 to '86'
?
operational_signal: 3rd Lair previously hosted arcade games (720, Cruisin' USA, shooters) but removed them due to maintenance costs and vandalism; pinball machines seen as more durable in youth venue context
high · Rick Brewster notes 'eventually maintenance costs weren't worth the coin drop' for older arcade machines; optimistic about pinball survival due to modern camera technology

Topics

Venue Management & Location OperationsprimaryPinball Tournament Organization & Community EventsprimaryNiche Hobby Intersections (Skateboarding + Pinball)primaryClassic/Vintage Pinball Machine SelectionprimaryPinball in Alternative VenuessecondaryCommunity Building & EngagementsecondaryArcade Game Maintenance & Depreciationmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.92)— Author expresses genuine enthusiasm for venue, celebrates unique intersection of hobbies, advocates for similar spaces. Tone is upbeat and celebratory throughout. Only minor frustration is missing inaugural tournament due to prior commitment.

Transcript

raw_text · $0.000

Checking out 3rd Lair, Minnesota’s Biggest Skate Park with Pinball Machines By Rick Brewster One Pinball boi’s dream come true. I’m a dude in my early 30s, which is bordering on dinosaur status by skateboarding standards. I’m fortunate enough to live just a couple miles from the largest indoor park in Minnesota, 3rd Lair, and have been finding a renewed joy in skating over my lunch breaks & after work. My back regularly locks up, and my legs are actually made of jello. Skating at 3rd kinda feels like showing up to a pinball tournament and seeing Jason Zahler, or Jared August, or Neil Graf in the building. Seeing actual children throw down trick after trick with ease while I struggle with my couple basic tricks up the euro gap cements my millennial status. But I don’t care. It’s fun, and that’s literally the only thing that matters. If you disagree, find some new hobbies and go be miserable somewhere else. (Respectfully.) An empty park, the anxious skater’s dream. I’ve never been comfortable skating a park with many other people in it. Summer sessions are the move! Over my lunch break not too long back, I overheard some chatter in the shop walking out about change machines. Naturally, I started eavesdropping, curious but doubtful it was something pinball-related. Sure enough, it was my buddy Phil Frazier chatting with 3rd Lair owner/operator/manager Mark Rodriguez about bringing pinball machines into the park. Not long after, I showed up and there were five of Phil’s games in the building (the count is now up to 10). There’s not many folks in the middle of the venn diagram of skateboarders & pinball players, but I’m one of them. I’m over the moon! Writing this piece, I really hope there’s more out there. Hey, Tony Hawk owns a Skateball. Pinball & skate history piece incoming? Hopefully one day. I chatted with Mark on the state of pinball at 3rd, curious how this all came about. He’s known Phil since they were teens, and Phil reached out to get some games he was sitting on in the building. Feels like a no-brainer, right? Having a ton of space doesn’t automatically make a place ideal for pinball: the enjoyment factor of pinball machines per square foot has to look pretty bell curve-y, right? But the just under 20k square feet 3rd Lair did have a perfect little room underneath a ramp build, where people (generally parents) sit on top and skating happens around and underneath. The entrance to the pinball room. Aforementioned parents take the stairs up top to observe the kiddos. The rippers and the pinballers stay down below. 3rd has never had pinball before, but they used to have arcade games: 720, Cruisin’ USA, shooters and that sort of jazz. But, kids are kids, and eventually maintenance costs weren’t worth the coin drop, so they got the boot. Kids, don’t do that! Not that you’re reading Nudge due to the strict adults-only Ryan Policky, but let’s keep having nice things, please. And, camera tech has gotten a lot better since the aughts. You’re not gonna get away with jack nowadays. And honestly, I’d put my money on a game surviving against kids in a skatepark over a game surviving in a dive bar any day of the week. There’s no fee to drop into 3rd to play pinball and hang out. No park admission required, just your 50 cents per game for coin drop. EMs and solid states only: there’s a 10 year window of games represented, from ‘76 to ‘86. Your most modern options are High Speed (you’ve played that before) and Special Force (you probably haven’t played that before). Come on and hang out and see what it’s about. Phil recently hosted 3rd Lair’s inaugural tournament, featuring 18 pinball players (including two skateboarders and one rollerskater). I had to miss it due to a beer event I got tickets to months ago (really exposing my 30-something year old self here) and I was buuuuuummed. It was even on one of my favorite holidays, June 27th. Dang it. Cruising a park for a couple minutes in between tourney rounds is honestly a dream scenario, sweat be damned. I won’t miss the next one. Phil Frazier, doing some tech work before the first tournament. The intersection of pinball and skateboarding is a bit understated: we have a couple machines made, including a homebrew Tony Hawk that won TWIPY homebrew of the year in 2024. But, there’s not many places where you can skate and play pinball under one roof, and 3rd Lair handles both areas with excellence. In what might be an insane coincidence, the Twin Cities has another skatepark/skateshop/pinball establishment, Vision Arcade & Skateshop. I want to give them an honorable mention here, as they also are players in this space, albeit in a slightly different fashion (smaller spot, 30 minutes outside of Minneapolis). I plan to cover them in Nudge within a different piece that I’ve been putting off for an obnoxiously long time. These pinball and hobby intersections aren’t the most common, and they should be celebrated. Go check out 3rd, or Vision, or any other weird-ass pinball locations you have near you. This is Nudge, baby. What else would you expect?