The Armory, a massive new entertainment venue and restaurant coming to downtown Maryville, has almost anything you could dream up − both virtual and real.
The complex’s 27,000 square feet will house a restaurant, two bars and endless entertainment experiences, including duckpin bowling, digital darts, virtual reality games, a nine-hole miniature golf course, skeet shooting and more. The Armory will combine family-friendly activities with an elevated drinking and dining experience.
“This will be the biggest anchor in Maryville,” Gemini Hospitality founding partner Jimmy Loup told Knox News.
Everyone behind the project, which has been in the works for a decade, is committed to the downtown. Gemini Hospitality, the group that founded Bella and The Raven in Maryville as well as Earl’s on Knoxville’s south waterfront, is working piece by piece bring in everything needed to make it vibrant.
“Places for people to eat, things for people to do and places for people to work,” Loup explained. “Clearly we’ve come into the picture with The Raven and Bella with places to eat. This is the stuff to do. We tried to house the most popular things under one roof, and we haven’t seen that anywhere.”
The Armory, at 496 Ellis Ave., has two levels and can hold nearly 800 people. The first level has a 34-seat bar with 24 tap handles (12 draft beer, 10 draft cocktails and two draft wines) with TVs surrounding the entire area.
There are nearly 400 seats for the restaurant spread throughout the venue, and patrons will be able to dine anywhere inside. There will be QR codes to scan for ordering, and food will be delivered to wherever your group posts up.
Games on the first level will include 12 duckpin bowling lanes, five bays for digital darts, a 20×20-foot virtual reality game room and digital shuffleboard.
The second level has a similar bar with the same 24 tap handles. Games on the upper level will include a nine-hole mini golf course and yard games, plus fire pits on an outdoor patio.
The multimillion-dollar project will employ more than 100 people. Guests can use an app to reserve games ahead of time, order food and keep track of scores in real time. A desk at the front will take game reservations as well.
“There’s nothing like this in Knoxville,” Loup said. “There will be, but there’s nothing like this in Knoxville. So we’ll pull from West Knoxville, certainly. Entertainment places like this typically pull from an hour away.”
The Armory is named after the building’s original purpose with the military. The original armory functioned for decades before being repurposed as a roller skating rink and a salvage business. It was demolished in 2021.Developers wanted to keep the historic building intact, but it couldn’t withstand the remodel. It was torn down and rebuilt as closely as possible to the original design.
Pricing, menus, hours of operation and package deals are coming soon to thearmorymaryville.com. The Armory will open sometime this summer.
Knox News reporter Joanna Hayes covers restaurants and retail for the business growth and development team. Email: [email protected]; Instagram: @knoxeat65. Sign up for Joanna’s Eat65 email newsletter to get the latest drink and dining news, as well as restaurant recommendations, at knoxnews.com/newsletters.
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