One Last Look at Papio Fun Park: The End of a Papillion Landmark

Papio Fun Park, photographed Aug. 14, 2026. The attraction is slated for removal as part of redevelopment of the property. Photo: Let’s Really Talk Nebraska.

PAPILLION, Neb. — The miniature golf course is overgrown now.

Weeds push through places where families once walked from hole to hole. The batting cages are quiet. The go-kart track that once carried generations of kids around its turns sits empty. Gates hang partially open, while scattered debris and aging equipment offer reminders of what used to be here.

For more than 35 years, Papio Fun Park was part of growing up in Papillion.

Now, it is preparing to disappear.

The longtime family entertainment center at 210 E. Lincoln Street has closed, the property has been sold, and plans are moving forward to redevelop the site as the second location of Omaha Sports & Games Company.

But redevelopment won't simply mean remodeling the old Papio Fun Park.

City records confirm that the existing building will be demolished.

More Than 35 Years of Papillion Memories

Papio Fun Park opened in August 1990 under owners Margaret and Paul White.

It started simply, with five batting cages.

A sixth batting cage and miniature golf course followed in 1991. After receiving city approval, the family added the go-kart track in 1992.

For the first several years, the business operated from a small trailer because construction on the property was restricted by its floodplain designation. After a dike was completed in 1996, the family was able to construct the arcade building and turn Papio Fun Park into a year-round attraction.

Over the years, laser tag, arcade games and other attractions joined the go-karts, batting cages and miniature golf.

But the attractions were only part of what made the place familiar.

Papio Fun Park became one of those places woven into the background of childhood in Papillion.

Birthday parties happened there. Kids raced their friends around the go-kart track. Families played miniature golf on summer evenings. Teenagers hung out there. Parents eventually returned with children of their own.

The business itself reflected that generational history.

All five of Margaret and Paul's children worked at Papio Fun Park over the years, and eventually one of their grandsons joined the staff, making it a three-generation family business.

In January, Papillion Mayor David Black recognized Margaret White upon her retirement from Papio Fun Park during a City Council meeting.

Not long afterward, the park closed to the public.

Its website now carries a simple message:

“Thank you for making fun memories with us.”

The Floodplain That Shaped Its Beginning Will Also Shape What Comes Next

There is an unusual symmetry to what is happening now.

The floodplain that restricted construction when Papio Fun Park was young is once again determining what can be built on the property.

According to a City of Papillion redevelopment study, most of the property sits within a FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Area, with a portion extending into the floodway.

During an April 29 Papillion Planning Commission meeting, representatives for the redevelopment explained that the existing Papio Fun Park building sits below the required flood elevation.

Because of those regulations, the building cannot simply be reused as planned.

It will be torn down.

Plans call for a new building constructed one foot above the base flood elevation.

The outdoor attractions that defined Papio Fun Park will disappear as well.

City meeting records indicate the miniature golf course, go-kart track and batting cages will be removed. The area occupied by the go-kart track is expected to become parking.

For anyone hoping the old attractions might somehow survive the redevelopment, the plans make the answer clear.

This isn't a renovation of Papio Fun Park.

It's the end of it.

What Is Replacing It?

Photo Courtesy of Sports & Games Company.

The property has been purchased for a second location of Omaha Sports & Games Company, which currently operates in the Elkhorn area.

The company describes its planned Papillion location as a private sports, games and event space. Concept art of their vision is displayed on their website.

Current plans include indoor and outdoor courts for basketball and pickleball, arcade games, golf simulators, artificial turf, live entertainment and space for weddings, corporate gatherings, birthday parties, graduations, fundraisers and other events.

The new Papillion location is currently targeting a March 2027 opening.

It will bring something new to the property.

But it won't be Papio Fun Park.

One Last Look

The former miniature golf course at Papio Fun Park, photographed Aug. 14, 2026. The attraction is slated for removal as part of redevelopment of the property. Photo: Let’s Really Talk Nebraska.

For longtime residents, places like Papio Fun Park can be surprisingly difficult to lose.

Not because the miniature golf course was perfect.

It wasn't.

Not because the go-karts were the newest or the batting cages were the fanciest.

They weren't.

What made the place matter was time.

Thirty-five years is enough time for a child who once climbed into a go-kart to grow up, have children and bring those children back to the same track.

It's enough time for a business to become less of a destination and more of a landmark. Something you drive past without really thinking about because it feels like it has always been there.

Until suddenly it isn't.

Today, the property looks tired.

The miniature golf course is disappearing beneath weeds. The track is empty. The cages are still. Pieces of what once made the property colorful and noisy sit weathered and unused.

It would be easy to photograph those things simply as evidence of a property ready for redevelopment.

But they are also evidence that something happened here.

Thousands of birthday candles were blown out here.

Kids swung at pitches here.

Friends raced each other around that track.

Families kept score on that miniature golf course.

For more than three decades, people made ordinary little memories here without realizing that someday they would become nostalgic ones.

Soon, the buildings and attractions will be gone.

Something new will take their place, and another generation will make memories there in a completely different way.

But for those who grew up with Papio Fun Park, there is still a little time to look through the fence and remember what it used to be.

One last time.

By Kelly Bohlman | Let’s Really Talk Nebraska

Close up of the beloved go-kart track taken August 14, 2026. Photo: Let’s Really Talk Nebraska.