'A Disaster': Merrimack Valley Pavilion Waits Out Coronavirus

TEWKSBURY, MA — For Tewksbury's Merrimack Valley Pavilion, winter is usually the worst season, with mini golf closed and laser tag as the main draw. This year, the business will likely have to close for the season altogether.

"It's a disaster," said owner Angelica Morales about the impact of the coronavirus on her business. "We were closed for a good three months, without any customers or anything. When we finally opened, it was restricted due to social distancing, and many of our customers were not happy to come back just yet."

Even once the arcade was able to open, Morales noted, it was limited to 25 percent capacity. Laser tag has not been able to open at all, so mini golf had to hold revenues up on its own.

Laser tag will finally be able to open Monday, she said, at 50 percent capacity.

She has been able to keep the business open so far, with the help of a small PPP loan. And she has gotten creative, going to the Board of Selectmen in August for permission to host drive-in movies, which will conclude with a Halloween screening of the 2019 Addams Family.

But none of it's enough, Morales said, unless conditions change significantly.

"I think we would probably have to close for the winter, but not close forever," she explained. "Once we pay our staff, once we pay everything else, it's just not worth it. So maybe we close everything until we can open minigolf."

Even the drive-in movies have proven to be a headache, with some customers bringing chairs to set up outside their cars, resulting in a temporary shutdown for health reasons. The movies prompted a lot of excitement, but that didn't turn into massive ticket sales.

"We never had a packed movie night," Morales said. "But it did help."

Morales also noted that the timing of the pandemic also limited the amount of government aid her business received: the PPP loan was based on winter revenues, which are much smaller than average annual numbers.

"Hopefully we can survive," Morales said. "Hopefully we can do mini golf at least until the end of October."

This story has been updated.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.