Step back into the mid 70’s, and you will find one of the greatest sources of inspiration for the Ottawa Pinball Arcade, The Wizard.
As Ottawa’s largest chain of Arcades, The Wizard stood as the gold standard when parting with our quarters, with locations throughout the Ottawa area, Kingston, and ultimately stretching all the way to Calgary!
This Wizard Arcade location was on the South West corner of Carling and Broadview, just the way I remember it. The blue 10 speed bike on the right looks like it could have been mine!
And my favourite game in the front window, a fresh Captain Fantastic at the height of its state of the art Electro-Mechanical Arcade Power with whiter whites than any Classic Bally this side of the 70’s!
This is an early sneak peak at what is to come in the form of a growing series of historic photographs and insights into the rich Arcade history we all grew up with in Ottawa during the Golden Era of the Arcade and Pinball.
Stay tuned for this exciting new series, to be continued soon!
I used to go to the one on the corner of Montreal Rd and St.laurent Blvd. Great times! Great memories.
I spent a hell of a lot of quarters there – Fly like an Eagle was in permanent rotation as I recall
Thank you for the memories. This arcade defined my childhood.