Scandia Family Fun Center, Las Vegas, Triblend Tee

Venue History

Scandia Family Fun Center was one of Las Vegas’ best-loved family attractions, offering miniature golf, go-karts, bumper boats, batting cages, and arcade games only a few blocks west of the Strip. Located at 2900 Sirius Avenue, near Rancho Drive and Interstate 15, Scandia opened in 1984 and entertained generations of Las Vegas families for more than two decades. The Las Vegas location was part of the Scandia family-amusement concept that originated in California. Its Scandinavian-inspired grounds were immediately recognizable for whimsical landscaping, castle-like structures, windmills, fountains, and elaborate miniature-golf scenery. Unlike the casino attractions surrounding it, Scandia was designed primarily for children, teenagers, families, birthday parties, and local groups. Its miniature-golf courses were among its signature attractions, but Scandia offered considerably more. Nevada tourism guides from the era advertised miniature Indy-style race cars, bumper boats, batting cages, and an indoor video-game arcade. By the 1990s, admission to the facility itself was free, with visitors paying individually for attractions, typically only a few dollars apiece, making Scandia an affordable alternative to increasingly expensive Strip entertainment. Scandia occupied an unusual place in Las Vegas history. It opened shortly before the city began aggressively promoting itself as a family destination and therefore anticipated the trend that later produced attractions such as MGM Grand Adventures and Circus Circus’ Adventuredome. Yet Scandia remained distinctly local. Its batting cages, arcade, race cars, and miniature golf made it as much a neighborhood hangout as a tourist attraction. The property became increasingly valuable during Las Vegas’ mid-2000s real-estate boom. Plans emerged to replace Scandia with Opus Las Vegas, a proposed $550 million development featuring two 50-story condominium towers. Scandia ultimately closed on September 6, 2005, and the property was sold the following day to developers associated with Fisher Brothers. The ambitious high-rise plans never materialized, and the abandoned amusement center was demolished in 2007. Today, the former Scandia property has become part of the sprawling AREA15 entertainment district. In 2021, the approximately four-acre site was developed as The Grounds, an outdoor venue created for concerts, festivals, conventions, and large-scale events. In an unusual twist, the land where generations of Las Vegas families once raced go-karts and played miniature golf has once again become a destination for entertainment, connecting one era of Vegas recreation with another.