They say you can never go back in time, but a certain location in Springfield, MO begs to differ. 1984 has been keeping the 80s arcade experience alive, treating guests to a smorgasbord of classic games alongside plenty of 80’s memorabilia. Jason Durham is one of the establishment’s seven co-founders and a longtime arcade enthusiast. His zeal for classic gaming helped to create of one of Springfield’s most original locations.

Jason’s involvement with 1984 surprisingly began in 1985. His older brother Devin Durham was a college graduate who was working at an arcade at the time. The arcade had recently put a TRON arcade game up for sale.

“My brother’s roommate bought it after the arcade put it up for sale,” says Jason. “He then gave it to Devin.”

Rather than keep it for himself, Devin decided that it would make perfect gift for someone. That Christmas, Jason was ecstatic to receive his very own TRON arcade machine from his brother as a present. He received another one, Asteroids Deluxe, from Devin that following Christmas.

“My 7^th and 8^th grade year, 1986 and ’87, I had two arcade machines in my bedroom. That’s what started it.”

Fast forward to 2005 where the Durham family arcade collection had grown from two to 26 and consequentially was becoming harder to keep track of.

“We had them scattered about and began looking for a place to rent. A storage room with power or something that we could put them all in one place and play them.”

 To keep their passion alive, Jason and Devin needed a venue where they could keep their increasing number of arcade games.

Enter Lincoln Whisler, another co-founder of 1984. Lincoln and an associate were working as web designers in Downtown Springfield. They both had a love for the arcade which had evidently jump-started a collection of their own.

“We had always been fans of the 80s arcades, that’s kind of where we grew up,” tells Lincoln.

Their work office had become the home of their inventory, with about three pinball machines and five arcade cabinets being housed there. With their collection growing and their office space shrinking, they knew a dedicated venue was necessary if they were to continue collecting machines. Something had to be done.

“We came up with this idea… where we’d invite other owners to have their arcade machines together in one location. We’d share the costs of rent and then we’d be able to play each other’s games,” Lincoln recalls.

The Durham brothers found out and immediately became interested in the concept. According to Jason, “It kind of morphed into an arcade club since there were other people who wanted access to it. They said, ‘If we pay rent, would you let us have access to it, and maybe if we had a game we could stick in in there?’” Their newfound idea was gaining speed, but they still faced a major obstacle: the cost.

 “As we tried to figure that out, the rent was going to be too much for just a small group of owners to enjoy for themselves.” Lincoln says.

While their discussions continued, they thought of the idea of opening it to the public to help generate revenue. Although this differed from their original vision, opening it to the pubic would help generate revenue to keep the rent paid.

“It went from that and evolved into, ‘Let’s open up a full-fledged 80s arcade!’” claims Jason.

This wouldn’t be exactly like it was over 20 years ago, though; its creators sought to modernize it based on their previous experiences with arcades.

“I had worked at several arcades, and one of the things initially that we did not want to deal with was collecting quarters every night,” says Lincoln. “You would go through all of the machines, take all of the quarters every night, count those.”

The founders of 1984 weren’t keen on having to deal with the other issues brought by the quarter system, such as quarters getting stuck in the coin slot.

“That’s really where the idea of charging people at the door and letting them play for free began. How do we make this easy on ourselves and more enjoyable for the customer?” says Lincoln.

As for naming this to-be arcade, they settled on a year that would be a fitting tribute to the era that inspired it.

“The Nintendo came out in 1985, so people started staying home to play games instead of go to the arcades,” Jason claims. “1984 was considered the last good year for arcades before the industry crashed.”

Since its opening, 1984 has been one of Springfield’s most memorable experiences. It came to fruition from a conjunction of passion and community amongst friends, which can be seen there today.

In the words of Gloria Durham, the mother of Jason and Devin, “It’s more in their heart than it is making money. You got to make money to keep it going, but it’s more of a passion to them. A lot of these games were in my two-car garage and those were the games they started with.”

Their arcade collection has grown exponentially from the initial two to over 65, with new additions being bought regularly and plans to continue. Despite their expansion, there are no hired employees who work at 1984 – all seven co-founders help to run it. Their love for the arcade experience is what makes 1984 thrive, and will likely serve as the core of its experience for many years to come.