Erik Kabik
The holes are being drilled, the artificial turf laid, and the props — most notably a giant, starred boot and oversized Gene Simmons head with gaping mouth — placed.
KISS by Monster Mini Golf, an indoor putt-putt course themed after the iconic glam-rock band, will open March 15 at The Shoppes at Harmon Square, owners announced this week.
The miniature golf course was supposed to debut at the end of this year and then in January, but the project’s Facebook page said the opening was postponed by a series of unspecified construction hitches. The new grand opening date coincides with the anniversary of the band’s “Destroyer” album, released March 15, 1976.
Monster Mini Golf, which runs 25 mini-golf courses nationally, signed a 10-year, $3 million lease with the strip mall at Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road. The indoor course will feature 18 holes with custom glow-in-the-dark KISS props, a video game arcade, a KISS gallery, the “Hotter Than Hell” Wedding Chapel, a private VIP room, the “Rock ’n’ Roll All Nite” Cafe and what’s billed as the largest KISS gift shop in the world. A live DJ will play KISS music and staff will lead customers in KISS trivia contests with prizes.
Mega-fans can even immortalize themselves in the venue’s decor. For a $20 fee, owners will post a business-card sized photo of you or a loved one in KISS gear on a restaurant or party room wall. Forty bucks will buy you a jumbo print. Big spenders can shell out $1,500 to have their photos displayed in digital frames at the start of holes Nos. 2 through 17, while the most dedicated fans can spend $5,000 to be featured at the first hole, dedicated to Paul Stanley, or the last hole, an homage to Simmons.