Half of the AT&T Pavilion in South Anchorage will soon house a trampoline park with features like a ninja obstacle course, dodgeball court and tumbling areas.
Get Air, a Utah-based company that operates nearly two dozen trampoline parks from coast to coast, said it plans to open the bouncy business in the latter half of June at the Pavilion, located off O'Malley Road between the Seward Highway and Old Seward Highway. It will be available to individual users and groups
Get Air will operate under a lease with O'Malley Gardens LLC, which owns the Pavilion and the adjacent Subway Sports Centre that features two ice rinks, according to Steve Agni, O'Malley's managing member. Get Air will occupy the north half of the facility, which currently features an artificial-surface indoor soccer field 60 yards long and 40 yards wide.
Agni said demand for the soccer field declined after The Dome, the city's huge, air-supported sports facility, opened in 2007, and his group started looking for alternative uses. The other half of the Pavilion will continue to house four side-by-side basketball courts currently used for basketball, volleyball, roller derby, table tennis and other activities, Agni said. The Anchorage Sports Association confirmed it will continue to occupy its office in the Pavilion.
After considering options like turning the north side of the Pavilion into a water park of sorts or a training facility, Agni said he discovered Get Air. He thought Get Air was a good fit for the Pavilion, and for Anchorage.
"It's a perfect physical facility because there are no columns and a real good vertical ceiling, about 25 feet at the lowest,'' Agni said. "We also thought (Get Air) was real compatible with the demographic of that facility -- youth, young adults, really all ages -- and people in Alaska are very active.''
Ashton Goodell, the media and marketing director for Big Air and a former reporter for KTUU Channel 2 in Anchorage, said she thinks the business can thrive in Anchorage.
"With how active people are, they don't want to be cooped up at home,'' Goodell said. "And I emphasize that anyone can do it. Kids love it. We see moms do it, we see dads do it, we see older people do it.''
Agni said part of the appeal of Get Air is that virtually anyone can bounce on a trampoline.
"To start, and then enjoy it, you really don't need a skill set,'' Agni said. "To start basketball or volleyball, just to pick a couple sports, you need some skills.
"To play in a trampoline park, you just get in there.''
Goodell said trampolines -- which will be surrounded by pits filled with foam padding for safe, soft landings -- and other Get Air features like the ninja obstacle course are a fun way to exercise, and they can help enhance balance and core strength. She said users typically buy a ticket for an hour, or sometimes two hours, which is about as long as most people can go before fatiguing.
The Anchorage location, Goodell said, will be available to walk-in customers, but can also be booked for birthday parties and other group events like team-building. Pricing for the Anchorage location has not yet been set, she said.
Goodell said Get Air estimates it will employ 40 to 50 people.
Agni, who said he visited at Get Air location in Washington state before coming to an agreement with Get Air, said preliminary renovation work at the Pavilion will begin Saturday.
"So far, it's been a universally positive response we've got,'' Agni said. "People seem to like the idea a lot. We've had interest from athletic organizations to use the park to augment training. People seem to be excited.''
Reach reporter Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
?For more on Get Air, go to getairanchorage.com