The owner of the proposed Elevate Trampoline Park in west Champaign expects the facility to open in spring 2018.
Rob Genet said the Mesa, Ariz., based company plans to open “within six months” at 707 N. Country Fair Drive, site of the YMCA’s Family and Fitness Center before the opening of the Stephens Family YMCA in southwest Champaign.
“We’re in the design phase right now. We’re hoping to have all the plans submitted to the city in the next couple weeks,” Genet said. “Our build time is probably three or four months. We’re hoping to be open within six months — April, May. Spring break might be a little ambitious but we’ll see how long it takes for the city to get everything turned around.”
Genet said the Champaign facility will be similar to the one Elevate opened this summer in Peoria.
“There’s going to be dodgeball courts, ninja courses, little kids area, foam pits, launch pads,” he said. “There will be a few new features, some newer things that even the Peoria park doesn’t have, that should be really cool.”
The Peoria location also has an area dedicated to groups or parties, along with a snack bar that features pizza, corn dogs, chicken strips and other staples.
Chelsea Wilmoth, general manager of Elevate’s Mesa location, said her facility cooks “everything in an air oven; nothing is fried in oil.”
The Champaign location will have a separate area for smaller children.
“We have a child’s area, 48 or 54 inches and under that are allowed in that area,” Genet said. “We set aside specific times and days for toddler time for the little guys to come in. We have a teen night on the weekends.”
Rates in Peoria vary based on age and day of the week. For 7-and-under on Monday-Thursday, the first hour is $9 and the second hour is $4. For 8 and older, the figures are $13 and $6. For Friday-Sunday, the younger group is $11 and $5, while the older group is $15 and $7.
“We just really liked the area; we saw a need for something like this there,” Genet said. “We just felt really good about that particular space, and the demographics looked good. Ceiling heights are a huge deal, and square footage is a huge deal. And you want a decent location, too. You don’t want an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. That’s why we really liked the old YMCA space.”