Arcade building at Glen Echo Park in Maryland
Glen Echo Park Historical Buildings
The Arcade is the largest building in Glen Echo Park. In 1940 the old Chautauqua Hotel and Administration Building were torn down, as was the 1934 Amusement Arcade, and the new art deco Arcade was built in their place. Here you would find all of the games of chance such as skeeball, a shooting gallery, pinball machines, mechanical fortune tellers (like in the movie Big), and other arcade games. Prior to the new Arcade, such games were spread throughout the park in smaller buildings.
Arcade at Glen Echo Park in Maryland
The space where the old shooting gallery was located is not being used, so you can look in the window at the original targets. There are also some wayside exhibits about the gallery and Arcade building. Believe it or not, the shooting galley used real guns with live ammunition—.22 shorts. When World War II broke out, the gallery was closed due to an ammunition shortage.
Original shooting gallery targets used at Glen Echo Park in Maryland
Original shooting gallery targets used at Glen Echo Park in Maryland
In December 2002, the entire northern half of the Arcade building was torn down. This included the Pop Corn Gallery at the end of the building and the portion of the building back to where today’s taller section with the large pane of glass windows now stands. Construction on a reproduction of the Pop Corn Gallery and the newly designed taller building (the original was the same height as the rest of the Arcade building) was completed the following year, though the building did not open until 2006.
New Pop Corn Gallery and high-rise section of the Arcade at Glen Echo Park
Today the Arcade building is where many of the art and music classes are held. Adventure Theatre and The Puppet Co., both theaters for children’s productions, are also housed in the building. Adventure Theatre has been at Glen Echo Park since it opened as an arts center in 1971. The upper floor is where the offices of the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture are located; this is the organization that now manages the park.
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Last updated on January 10, 2025
