Prime Time Corpus Christi announced it will temporarily close its doors just days before the Nueces County Commissioners meet to gather input on game rooms in the county.
"Prime Time will be closed starting Friday, April 15th until further notice," Prime Time Corpus Christi posted on its Facebook page Friday morning. "We will wait and see what the city decides for the future of game rooms on Wednesday, April 20th. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Please spread the word, we would hate to have people from out of town drive to play while we're closed."
The closure comes just two days after a local resident created an online petition to keep game rooms open in Corpus Christi. Prime Time encouraged its supporters to sign the petition on Facebook.
As of Friday afternoon, the petition posted on change.org has collected more than 700 signatures.
The game room located at 3801 Saratoga also posted a flyer on its doors advising customers of their closure. It also asks customers to join the fight for game rooms at the Nueces County Courthouse on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
KRIS 6 News was there as several customers pulled into what is usually a packed parking lot to find the flyer on the door. Many of them refused to comment on the gamer room's closure.
Nueces County Commissioners are holding a meeting at the Nueces County Courthouse on April 20 at 5 p.m. to discuss proposed regulations on game rooms.
One of the proposals would restrict game rooms from being open between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. due to the increase of personal crimes such as assaults, robberies, and homicides.
It would also limit how close game rooms can be to each other. If the county ordinance is passed, it will allow any law enforcement agency to investigate violations of the regulations.
The Commissioners Court plans to designate the Nueces County Fire Marshal as game room permit administrator for the county.
For a look at the proposed regulations that will be discussed on April 20, click here.
