The Ann Arbor Pinball Show and Pinball Museum is Clay Harrell’s pinball project, as a way to play and showcase his collection of vintage pinball machines. Purchased an old VFW hall on 10 acres of property in Green Oaks Township (Hamburg VFW), which is about 8 miles north of Ann Arbor (on highway US23 at Silver Lake Road.) The VFW name was recycled to mean “Vintage Flipper World” to keep the building, which is rich in history, familiar to its roots. There are a handful of people that help out with the museum, from maintaining and restoring the machines, to doing building upkeep and maintenance.
We have a formal agreement with the township to only be open up to four weekends a year. (As of now, we are just opening one weekend a year.) Yes we know it’s a bit silly to be a museum that’s only open a few days a year, but that’s how it worked out with the township and the insurance company. This is not unlike PAPA (in Pittsburg, no longer open) and Banning CA (again no longer open), and their pinball facilities. So every May the Ann Arbor pinball museum is open to a set number of people (ticket reservations must be made in advance, and are limited in numbers.) Note the Ann Arbor Pinball Museum is the largest dedicated pinball venue in North America (based on unique game count.)