Carol Stream trampoline park grows 'leaps and bounds'
Just as a pool has lifeguards, a Carol Stream trampoline park has the "jump patrol."
Like their aquatic counterparts, these safety-minded employees go shoeless and enforce the rules. But they're not perched in towers.
"We want them to be interactive with the customers," says Dan Eberhardt, vice president of sales and operations at Rockin' Jump, 485 Mission St.
That means his staff members wear grip socks and walk between trampolines, reminding jumpers about proper form.
"It's all about education," Eberhardt says.
The former Xtreme Trampolines switched owners in late January and Eberhardt and his business partners have renovated the 46,000-square-foot indoor park and are planning more improvements.
"We've come leaps and bounds from where we were," manager Kaitlin Schaefer said.
Under the previous owners, the park triggered concerns among village officials after an uptick in emergency calls for paramedics, Carol Stream Fire Chief Rick Kolomay said. There were three such calls in 2010 - the park opened that fall - and 19 the following year.
Patients were treated for wrist and ankle sprains and more severe neck injuries.
"We had just a litany of complaints," Kolomay said.
Managers met with the fire protection district's EMS command staff and implemented a safety plan, Kolomay said. Xtreme devoted an entrance to paramedics - away from crowds - added spotters and screened customers for any existing or recent injuries, he said.
"Our calls are very infrequent now," said Kolomay, noting only five in the past 10 months.
Those spotters are now expected to observe patrons more closely from the padded lanes along trampolines and to high-five kids who demonstrate the right technique, Eberhardt said. With up to 205 people in the park at one time, the injury rate is "very low," said Eberhardt, who also helped convert an Xtreme Trampolines into a Rockin' Jump in Buffalo Grove.
"The trampoline industry is newer. It's six, seven years in now," he said. "And I think it's getting a track record where the data is starting to catch up with the perception."
The trampoline park industry isn't all about bouncing around, Eberhardt said. Kids or even moms and dads can square off in a jousting match over a foam pit or climb a new rock wall by the front entrance.
"At this age group, they have video games, they have their cellphones, but they still love adventure and activity," he said. "And the parents love it, too."
With parents in mind, Rockin' carved out a lounge area with comfy sofas and televisions. Five massage chairs are set up alongside trampolines. And in the next six to seven months, Eberhardt plans to open three or four private party rooms and a cafe that will sell pizza and lighter fare such as salads and wraps.
"It needed refurbishing," Eberhardt said. "It needed some new excitement."
The most popular offering is an hour's worth of open gym time for $12. The hour begins with patrons walking into a bright green and orange space, repainted from a drab white, putting their shoes away in lockers and slipping into the grip socks.
"Our business is really exercise disguised as fun," he said.