Paisley Redwine, 2, jumps into the ball pit as her mother, Ashley Moore of Auburn, stands behind her at FunZ Trampoline Park in Lewiston on Tuesday. (Sun Journal photo by Daryn Slover)
LEWISTON — Aero Air Park is now FunZ Trampoline Park and after an almost $1 million expansion at the Lewiston Mall, business has tripled.
Kaley Castonguay, 10, of Lewiston plays in an inflatable ball at FunZ Trampoline Park in Lewiston on Tuesday. (Sun Journal photo by Daryn Slover)
“There’s not many things to do around here — we expanded and took the risk,” owner Jun “Tom” Zhang said Tuesday.
General Manager Michelle Gosselin’s phone pings every time a first-time customer fills out a waiver. It’s pinged more than a thousand times since the expanded facility opened Feb. 1, she said.
She’s taken calls to book at least 10 parties a day out through spring. Last Friday, Gosselin said the line for Teen Night stretched out the door for 45 minutes.
“There’s nothing for teens and this is a great, safe hangout,” she said. “They’re flipping, they’re jumping, they’re playing — they’re not hanging out on their phones.”
The trampoline park first opened in December 2015 with a sea of trampolines, basketball and a jumping pit. Gosselin said the work this winter expanded the facility from 15,000 square feet to just over 40,000 and coincided with an ownership change and name change after one partner bought out another.
The expansion added a ropes course, Velcro wall, rock climbing wall, bumper balls and zip line for those 46-inches and taller, a teens-only section for practicing Parkour (wild jumps and tricks), a large section for the under-10 crowd with multi-level slides and a ball pit, and an all-ages ninja course, foam pit, basketball area and main trampoline court.
It’s all brightly lit and spread out. Still to come are motorized bumper cars, a yet-to-be-revealed attraction and a virtual reality arena.
On Tuesday morning, the day of a popular Toddler Tuesdays special, FunZ was hopping.
Ashley Reny from Auburn, there with her almost 2-year-old daughter, Emerson, had been a regular when it was a smaller facility.
“This is amazing,” Reny said. “She was beside herself when we walked in this morning — she didn’t know where to go.”
They pretty quickly settled on a room that looked like it was built from tall, Lego-like foam walls with more Lego-like foam inside to build and stack, plus slides.
Gosselin said capacity has increased from 80 to 200 kids. The number of employees expanded from 10 to 50, most of them part-time, and includes her son, Matthew.
“He has recruited (friends),” she said. “Half of the St. Dom’s hockey team works here.”
The business has a regular cleaning schedule, Gosselin said, with some parts cleaned daily and others cleaned several times a week with a sanitizing fog machine.
Zhang’s family owns six trampoline parks throughout New England with two more under construction. This one is the largest.
They’re seeing customers drive from Portland, Freeport and Waterville.
“It’s exciting, I didn’t know what to expect,” Gosselin said. “We’ve tripled (attendees) already without advertising. We’ve only used social media.”
Prices start at $10 an hour for jumpers under 46 inches or $15 an hour for jumpers over 46 inches. Jumping socks cost $2.50 and can be worn again on future visits.
Parents can walk around in regular socks for free, watching their kids. If they plan to join in and jump, they pay the same rate as their child.
There are Wednesday half-day and home school specials. Weekend parties start at $250 for 10 kids and include two hours of jumping and pizza. There’s also a “Hop & Hibatchi” special with Sea 40 next door. The expansion added two party rooms to the existing one room and more are planned.
Regular hours are 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
During school vacation week, the hours each day are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
There’s a small snack bar, and outside food is discouraged.
Future plans call for dodge ball tournaments and timed ninja course challenges.
“‘We don’t have to go to Portland now,’ we hear that all the time,” Gosselin said. “Now, we’re keeping business right here in Lewiston.”
Teacher Tanya McPherson was there Tuesday with a group of kids from Rumford. The students attend a day treatment school and the trip was a reward for good behavior. She’d heard from some that they’d been so excited for the trip they couldn’t sleep at night.
“There’s nothing like this in our area,” she said.
kskelton@sunjournal.com
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