Perhaps Allen Fieldhouse won’t be the only famous game venue in Lawrence. A Topeka company has signed a deal to open a south Lawrence comic book shop that also is envisioned to become a regional hub for video game and board game tournaments. I can see the banner on the wall now: Beware of the Frogger. (That’s still a hip video game, right?)

Boom Comics has begun work to renovate the former Kief’s Audio Video store at 2429 Iowa St. Boom currently has stores in Topeka and Manhattan, but the Lawrence store — at about 15,000 square feet — will be the company’s largest.

“It is going to be the most awesome too,” said owner Matthew Kreger.

Comic books will be a big part of the store, but so too will games. The store will have about 5,000 square feet of space — that’s about the size of an average downtown store — just for people to play table-top games. That could be games like Dungeons & Dragons or increasingly popular trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, Force of Will or Yu-Gi-Oh. In fact, it is those type of games that may make the store a regional destination, Kreger said.

Players of those those trading card games frequently are looking for large venues to host high-level tournaments. The Lawrence store should provide some of the more unique space in the region. Kreger said the space is being set up so video from the store’s gaming competitions can easily be streamed lived over the Web. Yes, that stuff really does happen.

“There are professional Magic players now,” Kreger said of the fantasy card game. “There will be a lot of regional competitions and tournaments. It will bring a lot of activity to Lawrence, and they’ll spend their money in a lot of places.”

Video games also will be a big part of the store, although I’m not sure there is a need to get my Frogger fingers loosened back up. The store will sell and rent a large number of games for Xbox, Playstation and other gaming systems. The store also will be set up for customers to play the games right there in high-quality theater settings.

Kreger said the store plans to have eight large screen TVs, ranging in size from 60 inches to 200 inches, for people to rent for video game competition or other such outings. One will be a “prestige theater” with significant amounts of seating, and the others will be smaller two-person rooms.

Plans also call for the theater space to be used to show popular television programs such as “The Walking Dead,” “Game of Thrones” and “Croaked: Frogger’s Revenge.” (Actually, that last one is still in development. In my basement. So many frog zombie costumes to make.)

And let’s not forget, there also will be comic books at this comic book shop. Kreger said there will be about 200 new titles released at the store each month. Plus there will be vintage comic books as well. Kreger, a former professional opera singer, got into comic books in a big way before he started the store.

“I probably had over 100,000 books of my own, and my wife was giving me a hard time about it,” he said. “I told her I could open up a comic book shop, and she told me to go for it.”

Kreger opened the store in Topeka in 2014, and followed up with a location in Manhattan. Kreger said the Lawrence store — which also will include a coffee shop and snack bar — should open Aug. 1.

“I have wanted to do this in Lawrence ever since I had the idea,” Kreger said. “I just couldn’t find the space for it. I remember growing up in Topeka and driving to Lawrence to go to Kief’s. When I heard that space was available, I knew it would be perfect.”

In other news and notes from around town:

• It is time to keep an eye on a Lawrence-based company that may be bringing new manufacturing and warehousing jobs to Lawrence.

Prosoco, one of the companies located in the East Hills Business Park — has formed a new affiliated company that plans to become a major player in the industry of building highly energy-efficient homes and commercial buildings.

Prosoco leaders have announced they have completed a deal to form Build Smart, a company that builds energy-efficent wall panels and other products that are designed to reduce energy costs in typical homes by 65 percent to 75 percent.

A Prosoco executive confirmed to me this morning that the company is currently examining ways to manufacture the products in Lawrence.

“Absent a change of plans, some manufacturing work will be done in Lawrence,” said Paul Grahovac, Prosoco’s director of new business development.

The company’s announcement also said new warehousing space also would be needed for the venture. Grahovac said the company is in a “decision mode and search mode” on the warehousing and manufacturing needs of the new company.

Prosoco currently has a little more than 80 full-time employees at its Lawrence headquarters and production facility. Grahovac said he was optimistic Build Smart will create new Lawrence jobs, but did not offer any projections. He said the company likely will make decisions about its manufacturing and warehousing operations by the end of the year.

Prosoco, which has had its headquarters and production plant in Lawrence for the last 16 years, has focused on manufacturing chemicals and solutions related to cleaning, protecting and maintaining concrete. But about 10 years ago, the company developed a product that is a chemical application that can take the place of the white, plastic Tyvek sheeting that is used to wrap houses and other buildings while they are under construction. About five years ago, it developed a chemical application that can be used to make window openings more air and water tight.

Those products, Grahovac said, became very popular in an architectural movement known as Passive House construction, which focuses on making homes much more energy efficient than standard houses. That led to a collaboration with noted Passive Home architect Adam Cohen, who told Prosoco officials that he had developed a new method for construction of high-efficient pre-fabricated wall panels.

“It was driving him crazy,” Grahovac said. “Everybody wanted the panels, but he’s not a manufacturer.”

Grahovac said Prosoco and Cohen finalized a deal to create the new company about two weeks ago. Prosoco wholly owns the new venture, but Cohen is serving as the company’s founder and technical director, Grahovac said.

The company is starting by offering three products. They are:

• Pre-fabricated, energy efficient wall panels that can be used in place of traditional “stick-built” exterior walls. Grahovac said the panels are built in smaller sections so they don’t require the use of a crane on a job site, and the panels aren’t constructed with any screws or nails. He said that improves the energy efficiency because screws and nails can act as tiny breaks in the thermal barrier of a building.

• Insulated forms used for pouring concrete basement walls or slab foundations for homes or other buildings.

• Insulated pre-casted concrete walls that can be used for basement walls.

The new company believes the future of the energy-efficient building industry is strong. Building codes are requiring a greater emphasis on energy efficiency, and builders are starting to see how the products can be used in cost effective ways.

Build Smart is estimating that the 65 percent to 75 percent saving in energy bills for a typical home will easily offset the “fractional” increase in construction costs by using the pre-fabricated walls. For larger commercial buildings, the company says the energy efficient building system often can reduce the size of building’s heating and cooling systems by 40 percent to 60 percent.

“I created these products from my design/build work, and I’ve long wanted to bring them to a wider audience,” Cohen said in a statement. “I’m extremely pleased that it’s finally possible through the Build Smart partnership with Prosoco. The ultimate goal is to change the way we build in North America to bring energy efficiency within reach for anyone.”