New messy Med City business hopes to be a "smashing" success

Jeff Kiger, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Oct. 7—ROCHESTER — Ever want to be like the Hulk and just smash everything?

Jared and Katie Byrnes are working on a new Rochester business — The Mess Hall — to provide a fun outlet for that impulse as well as that childlike urge to wildly splash paint everywhere.

"We wanted something new to Rochester that is fun for everybody to do," said Jared Byrnes. "We started seeing people online having a blast doing this. There's nothing like this nearby. The closest smash room is in Des Moines."

The Mess Hall will be Rochester's first "smash room" business at 1635 North Broadway Ave. in the

River Center Plaza

. The 2,400-square-foot space is tucked in between the

Kingdom Buffet

and the License Center.

Byrnes is working on the space now. He hopes to have it ready to open before the holidays.

Darci Fenske of Paramark Real Estate represented The Mess Hall in the real estate deal to secure the space in the River Center Plaza. Nick Pompeian and Matt Gove of RGI represented the landlord.

The concept of the Mess Hall is simple. Adults and kids pay for the chance to make a really big mess without the downside of cleaning up afterwards.

People will be decked out in safety gear and armed with tools of destruction to go destroy and smash old electronics, appliances, bottles and anything else that will provide a satisfying crunch when hit by a hammer. The plan is to have two rooms for smashing.

In addition to adults and kids burning off energy with therapeutic smashing, The Mess Room will also cater to group outings and parties. People having a "gender reveal" party will have the option of having a bottle filled with colored material to be revealed by breaking it.

In addition to the smashing, The Mess Hall will also offer colorful way of making a mess.

There will be two "splatter rooms" where poncho-clad "artists" can use squeeze bottles to squirt paint all over the room, each other and maybe on a traditional canvas.

Byrnes is working out plans to use neon-colored paint and illuminate the splatter rooms with black lights to enhance the experience.

"We're really excited to bring something different to town," he said.