Get Air, a local trampoline park opening soon in HRM

Installation has yet to begin at HRM’s first indoor trampoline park, but families across the province are already jumping for joy.

Get Air Halifax launched their Facebook page on April 10, and it quickly started generating excitement. So far, the page has earned more than 6,000 “likes” by sharing not much more than a few photos and the future address: 621 Windmill Rd. in Dartmouth.

Get Air’s media and marketing director, Ashton Goodell, says requests for birthday party bookings have been flying in. They can’t book anything until closer to the park’s opening, but she says parties are definitely one of their best forms of advertising.

“A kid who’s never been here before will walk in and just say ‘Woahhhh,’” says Goodell. “It really is like a kid’s dream. When we were kids, we all dreamed about strapping more than one trampoline together!”

Get Air began in Utah and now has 21 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Goodell says Canadian cities are proving to be “prime places” for their trampoline parks.

“We’re seeing that Canadians like to be active all of the time, and get their heart rate up, but it’s hard to be outside all of the time because of the cold,” explains Goodell. “Our parks give them an opportunity to stay active indoors, year-round.”

Goodell says it was challenging to find the right location, because Get Air trampoline parks require industrial buildings with very high ceilings — as well as a family-friendly location.

The space has been measured and planned, and the trampolines are currently under construction at Get Air’s Utah headquarters.

“We basically manufacture the entire park to the specs of the building, so every part is customized,” says Goodell. “Then we’ll ship it up and install it.”

Goodell says construction is expected to begin early this summer, and they hope to open the doors to the public by late summer or early fall. They usually hire 40-50 employees for each location.

The parks usually range from 10,000 to 20,000 sq. ft. of trampoline surface, as well as other features like a long tumbling track, a Ninja obstacle course, slack lines for walking above the ground, monkey rings, a rock wall, cargo nets for climbing, and a bouncy basketball court so that even shorter kids can “dunk.”

“Kids can bounce, bounce, bounce to get their heart rate up, and when they’re tired, they can use their upper body strength to challenge themselves on the obstacles,” says Goodell. “There are timers, so you can race with a friend, or you can just take them at your own pace.”

There will be a special area for jumpers under 46 inches tall, so toddlers will have a safe place to jump away from rowdy older kids.

“My little niece is 20 months old, and she loves playing with the foam blocks and bouncing — and I like knowing she’s not going to get knocked over,” says Goodell.

Goodell says they have yet to determine admission costs for the HRM location, but says it’s usually between $12 and $16 per person — with cheaper rates Monday through Thursday.

There are no memberships, and the cost of admission is based on jump time — a minimum of 30 minutes, and a maximum of two hours. You’ll pay your admission, and get a coloured wristband to indicate when your entrance will “expire.”

Lifeguards are stationed around the park to keep an eye on things, and they’ll blow their whistle if anyone is playing unsafely. Jumpers are allowed to do simple flips, side twists, and tricks, but they are not allowed to doubles (or anything above that) or “gainers” (where you have forward momentum, but you’re moving backwards).

Goodell promises there will be a nice area for parents to sit and watch their kids jump, while they sip coffee and read the paper. There will be an announcement when it’s time for jumpers wearing a certain-coloured wristband to leave the jumping area.

Get Air Halifax will offer birthday party packages, as well as discounted admission deals for churches, clubs, and corporations. There will be limited food available for purchase on the premises, because no one wants to be overfeeding a kid who’s about to bounce for an hour or two.

Goodell says Get Air is all about promoting fitness, and encouraging people to be as active as they can be. Although their target demographic is eight to 14-year-olds, she says it’s a great way for families to exercise together.

“The moms love that it’s a serious calorie burn — up to 1,500 calories per hour — and the dads like to have fun and do flips,” says Goodell. “It really does trick kids, because they don’t think they’re exercising — they’re just having fun.”