Over four years ago, a group of high school students pitched the concept of a family entertainment center to the Seminole City Council. Yesterday, that vision moved one step closer to becoming a reality.

Ground was broken Tuesday morning, August 5 on the future “Hey Seminole” Entertainment Center on a strip of land along Highway 9, just behind a newly constructed strip mall. The mall and nearby housing are part of the Seminole Town Center Development across from Seminole High School. The city-owned facility will be operated by HeyDay Entertainment, which operates similar facilities in Norman, Oklahoma City and Denison, Texas.

The center was the brainchild of the Seminole Youth Council, which was comprised of of area high school juniors and seniors. In May 2021 the students pitched the idea to the city leadership during a city council meeting. In December of that year, an infrastructure services for land deal was negotiated between the city and RCL Development, advancing the center toward fruition. In January 2023, voters approved two proposals to fund the center: the extension of an existing one cent sales tax and the redirection of the city’s 4% hotel tax.

Last October, the council granted City Manager Steve Saxon authority to negotiate a management agreement with Heyday. As of Monday, the deal had not been finalized.

“We have been so immersed in the details of the architect, engineering and budget that we have not finalized an agreement with HeyDay,” Saxon said. “I am meeting with them Thursday to get things moving along. We have over a year of construction time, so we aren’t too panicked yet. I would expect something by the end of 2025 for sure.”