Business has been booming along the state Route 18 corridor between Akron and Medina with new developments, including senior housing and a proposed Menards.

And now what is being touted as Ohio's largest fireworks showroom is coming to the former Rinky Dink Family Fun Center property in Sharon Township.

Rinky Dink — with two miniature golf courses, a go-kart track, bumper boats and other attractions — announced this month it was closing for good after nearly two decades in business and the property has been sold.

The property has been acquired by Fireworks Planet, owned by Bath residents Jason Modlik and Scott Allison.

The pair already operate the Sandusky Fireworks SuperStore in northwest Ohio and the seasonal Fireworks Planet in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The plan for now is to use the existing buildings at Rinky Dink to get the business up and running by sometime in June.

The former owners of Rinky Dink plan to hold an auction at the property to sell off everything from arcade games to putters to the whimsical decorations that lined the miniature golf courses.

Construction will likely begin later this year on a new showroom that will offer more than 500 different fireworks for sale to the public.

Modlik said they are banking on a rise in demand for fireworks thanks to a change in Ohio law.

Residents previously were only permitted to use sparklers and a handful of other small pyrotechnics.

Anyone who purchased fireworks in Ohio were required to take them out of state within 48 hours.

But a recent change to Ohio fireworks laws now allows residents to shoot off consumer-grade fireworks on private property on more than 20 days, including New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Juneteenth, Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends and July 3, 4, 5, as well as the three-day weekends around July 4. 

Modik said they bought the Rinky Dink location because it offered plenty of space to expand and was also close to Interstates 71 and 77 and bigger metropolitan cities like Cleveland and Akron.

With their other two locations, they have found that customers are willing to travel up to an hour to purchase fireworks.

This new Fireworks Planet store, he said, might have bigger draw for customers because it will be the biggest in state once it is fully built and will offer a large number of different products from a variety of manufacturers, including the popular Black Cat brand.

The most popular firework sold at the pair's two existing stores is the Roman candle.

Modik said they have not decided the hours or days of operation for the Medina County store but it will likely be open year round once the new showroom is built and up and running in 2023.

Workers already have begun transforming the former Rinky Dink site into a fireworks outlet.

"We just have a couple more hoops to jump through," Modik said. "We are super excited to open up this business."

Craig Webb, who is a fan of the Cuckoo firework fountain, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com.