Trampoline park bounces in Marysville

MARYSVILLE — Dave Jones has a spring in his step that he didn’t have when he was building doors for 30 years.

That’s because he’s opened Altitude Trampoline Park in Marysville.

Jones got the idea from his brother, whom he watched set one up in Puerto Rico last fall. “Wow, this is really cool,” he said.

He lived in Ferndale, but a trampoline park had just been built in nearby Bellingham. “So it wasn’t an option in my back yard,” he said.

He found that the most-successful trampoline parks are in areas with 300,000 people within 15 miles. The parent company is located in Dallas, where there are 25 such parks. In the Seattle area, there are only parks in Bothell, Kirkland and Federal Way.

He decided on Marysville when he found the 28,000-square-feet former grocery store in the Allen Creek plaza with 17-foot-tall ceilings.

Jones said he’s not worried about succeeding, even though Absolute Park in Arlington recently shut down. He said his location is much better.

“Nobody goes to an industrial park unless they work there,” he said. “This is on a main drag” between Marysville and Lake Stevens. And because it’s in a shopping center, “People already come here.”

Jones said he’s not nervous about the new venture, but his wife is.

“I’m a people person and a team builder,” he said. “I feel pretty safe.”

Jones said the city has been very welcoming in adding another family entertainment center, to go along with bowling and skating.

“We’re meeting a significant need,” he said.

Jones signed the lease in March, and it took about a month to demolish the interior. He spent the next three months painting and patching about 150 holes in the floor. It took about two months after receiving the building permit to get it ready.

He said the facility can hold about 200 people, with about 100 using the 100 trampolines at a time and the others waiting. There will be about nine trampolines for smaller children with benches for parents nearby.

For older attendees, the park will feature a Battle Beam. Similar to a gymnastics balance beam, except it’s a foot wide, participants can use foam jousting sticks to try to knock a friend off. They fall into a foam pit.

The park also boasts two trampoline slam dunk basketball courts — one 10 feet tall, the other 7. There will also be two dodgeball courts.

In a few months, the facility will add Extreme Trampolines. Participants will jump from areas 4-, 5- and 6-feet high onto extra-springy trampolines.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Jones said, adding teens and 20-somethings will probably hang out there most of the time.

Jones said the park will have up to eight “court monitors” working at a time, making sure participants are safe.

“The last thing we need is someone getting hurt,” he said. “That’s critical for this type of business. Not all parks are created equal. Some are dangerous. There’s no other way to say it. But we’re going to have a reputation for being safe.”

Food will be available for purchase, including pizza, candy, pop, etc. The facility has space to handle 18 birthday parties at a time.

For hours, prices and more, go to altitudemarysville.com.