Photo courtesy Frisco Arts

Video game history museum vies for Frisco Arts lease area

Dual interest in the back-of-house space at the Frisco Discovery Center means the Frisco Community Development Corp. will have a decision to make about whether to keep local nonprofit Frisco Association for the Arts in the space or change directions with a newcomer—the Videogame History Museum.

The two nonprofits on May 20 pitched their plans to the FCDC and Frisco City Council on how they would each utilize the 15,000 square feet of space.

The VHM is currently a traveling museum that sets up at events throughout the U.S., including the Electronic Entertainment Expo and Austin's South By Southwest.

The board of the museum has made it clear it would like to put down more permanent roots, and representatives said Frisco is VHM's first choice.

The museum would also have a unique tie-in with Gearbox Software, a gaming company, which is planning on building in Frisco Square and relocating its headquarters from Plano. Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford made the initial museum pitch to the city.

Pitchford said there is no better way to motivate a young mind about science, technology and mathematics than video games and that VHM would create a visitor attraction and also a gaming headquarters for video game enthusiasts.

"The attention and success of it will blow everybody's expectations away," Pitchford said.

Sean Kelly, one of three founders of the museum, said the vision is for the museum to gain traction in the Frisco Discovery Center space, then eventually branch out to its own building.

"As long as we're not limited by spacing, we have no intention of going anywhere else [besides Frisco]," Kelly said.

Frisco Arts has managed the Frisco Discovery Center since 2010 for the FCDC, which the FCDC will have to consider in its decision. In turn, the nonprofit leases the back-of-house space to local organizations for a wide range of activities.

Frisco Arts Executive Director Sharon Roland said the center is providing a need that is not currently found in the community and it has exceeded its revenue goals for the past several years. With the recent renovations to the center and an agreement with the FCDC that will give Frisco Arts more marketing power, she said the space will become even more attractive to potential clients.

Events held at the center in the Frisco Arts space include summer camps, retail events, corporate meetings, fundraising events, high school dances and more. Frisco ISD, the Frisco Chamber of Commerce and Collin County Community College are some of the entities that lease space from the Frisco Arts.

"We have a lot of clients who have been very satisfied with the space and return to us each year," Roland said. "We have only scratched the surface of what's to come."

City staff members were directed to put together comparisons of the two proposals, and the issue will go back before the FCDC at a later date.