New owners take over closed Fiddlers Fun Center, work on extensive renovations for new Cedar Fun Center

Written by Jeff Richards
March 5, 2021
Brandon Eves, one of Cedar Fun Center's owners, works on lobby renovations, Cedar City, Utah, March 4, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Although Fiddlers Fun Center recently went out of business and closed its doors for good, a new family-friendly entertainment center is poised to spring up in its place soon.

Sign in front of former Fiddlers Fun Center notifies customers of new ownership and upcoming switch to Cedar Fun Center, Cedar City, Utah, March 3, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The Cedar Fun Center is expected to open sometime in early April, according to new owners Jon Cole, Derrik Staheli and Brandon Eves.

All three partners were doing renovation work in the movie theater lobby Wednesday afternoon when they spoke to Cedar City News about their new venture.

“We’re excited about it,” Cole said. “The community is excited. We’re just really looking forward to having our families be part of the community by having this business here.”

Cole said almost as soon as he, Staheli and Eves took over their newly acquired building last week, the trio decided the place needed some sprucing up.

“When we came into the building and started working, we thought, ‘This building has a cool history. A lot of people in the Cedar area know it really well.’ And so we thought, ‘What better way to honor the building than to make it fresh and inviting by redoing it?’”

Cole said they are doing a lot of remodeling to “clean it up and go back to that excitement – add a lot of fun to the area and hopefully add some more attractions as we keep moving forward.”

The owners say the plan for now is to keep the movie theaters as configured, with four screens. They also plan to retain several of the former business’s attractions and amenities, with some renovations and adjustments. These include a laser tag area, a video game arcade, virtual reality gaming and a snack bar with food, drinks, popcorn and other concessions.

“Now, for the most part, we’re getting remodeled, getting stabilized, and then later we’ll have some future expansion,” Cole said. “We’re inviting the community to give us feedback on our website or on social media regarding what entertainment or attractions they want to have.”

L-R: Business partners Jon Cole, Derrik Staheli and Brandon Eves, owners of Cedar Fun Center, stand in lobby during a short break in renovations, Cedar City, Utah, March 3, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Cole noted that he and Staheli both have extensive experience as businesses operators, having launched and run approximately a dozen businesses in St. George, Enterprise and surrounding areas.

“Between the two of us, we’ve employed or managed hundreds of people,” Cole said.

Additionally, Eves, who lives in Cedar City, has 14 years experience in the fun center industry and is a seasoned laser tag expert, with the experience to back that title: He has played more than 4,500 games to date.

Even though movie theaters have taken a huge hit nationwide over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cole says people still want to get out of their houses to have some fun and be entertained.

“People want to gather,” he said. “They’re social. They want to be around each other.”

Cole said that as they have been spending time inside the building doing the renovation work, which is expected to take another few weeks to finish, many people have been driving up and asking about the business.

“People are saying, ‘Hey, we want to come to watch the movies,’” he said. “And so we’re excited to open that back up and create a place where people can safely gather and come enjoy themselves with their families and friends.”

Cedar Fun Center has already started its hiring process. Those interested in applying may send inquiries or resumes to [email protected]. Additional information may be found on the new center’s website, which is still in development.

With completely new owners and new staff, along with a soon-to-be renovated building, Cedar Fun Center is committed to providing an entirely new and better experience for customers, Cole said, and an introductory paragraph from the owners posted on the center’s website echoes this sentiment:

We expect everyone who enters Cedar Fun Center to have the best experience possible, and that means friendly and professional staff, quality food, a clean facility, and more. We have spent our lifetimes building our reputations and expect to continue to deliver excellence for all of our friends who visit us.

Although Cedar Fun Center’s grand opening date has not yet been scheduled, the owners said they will be publicizing the plans and details as they are finalized within the next few weeks.

The center is located at 170 E. Fiddler’s Canyon Road in Cedar City.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!