Who would have thought a new calorie-burning, game-playing hangout for Pullman residents would spawn from a simple statement: “You know what would be awesome? Laser tag.”

The Cougar Laser Arena will soon be open in Pullman as a laser tag center and arcade. WSU graduates and spouses CJ and Quincy Robert came up with the concept through a simple chat and brought the idea to life.

CJ, who graduated in 2013 with a kinesiology major, said the idea came from a talk with her husband and brother about something they could do in town. The laser tag idea, suggested by CJ’s brother, sounded so good that CJ and Quincy, a digital technology and culture major who graduated in May, started doing their research.

“We really wanted to offer a place where kids can hang out, young and old, (to) play video games or for the adrenaline-pumping experience of laser tag,” CJ said.

The center will feature the laser tag arena, a lobby area, and an arcade consisting of about 15 to 20 games old and new, Quincy said. There’s also an interactive space in the lobby where people can watch the laser tag competitors and control a gun to shoot people in the arena.

The theme for the arena features space and aliens, including a section where people can look through portholes into outer space, CJ said. The inclusion of LED lights, fog, and a state-of–the-art laser tag system gives the arena a high-tech, alien-esque feel.

“We couldn’t have shoot ‘em up guns and blood,” he said. “Just kind of what would be family-friendly and fun at the same time.”

CJ said the lobby’s décor is more Cougar themed, and the center includes party rooms that can be used as gaming stations with a PS3 and Xbox. Cougar Laser Arena is meant to be a place for kids to hang out, offering something to Pullman that is really needed, CJ said.

“I think people might be bored with doing bowling (because) it’s the only thing open for years now,” said Alex Woytovech, a sophomore accounting major and CJ’s brother.

Whether or not bowling has become boring is still up for debate, but Woytovech agreed that the arena will have some competition with Zeppoz. Now there’s another option in entertainment spots for people under 21.

The process for organizing this center has been very long and tedious, CJ said. She and her husband received much help from the Small Business Development Center, which gave them plans and walked them through the process.

“Without that, we couldn’t have gone very far,” CJ said.

Quincy said the building was already in place, having been quite a few things in the past such as a church. Much of the work done to prepare the arena included taking down walls and tearing up old flooring, repairing it and painting it.

Quincy described the experience as enjoyable, but required a lot of research and labor. Quincy, CJ, and Woytovech have worked with friends to construct the arena. For the past month and a half, they’ve worked 16 hours a day, every day.

“We don’t want to fall behind,” Quincy said. “It’s one of the things that’s really important.”

The arena has gained support from not only the WSU community but the community of Pullman itself. Already, people are contacting the arena for parties, Quincy said.

So far, the biggest difficulty is working with the City of Pullman, CJ said. With fire codes recently changed and the rapid pace of setup, CJ said the main thing to worry about is that the City didn’t have much time to wrap their heads around the idea.

“Both me and my husband … really wanted to work for ourselves,” CJ said. “We just really wanted to open up our own business in something we knew we would like.”

The Cougar Laser Arena is set to open Friday and is located at 1234 South Grand, heading south past the post office. CJ suggested an age minimum of six years based on the game formats and the three-pound weight of the laser tag vests. There is also a family time on the weekends from noon to 3 p.m. with mostly family-specific games.