TREEHOUSE Adventure Centre and Kaboom Entertainment owner Stewart Owen says he has worked “too damn hard” to lose two businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Frustration is building for the prominent business owner and his partner David Walker following a lack of clarity in recent announcements regarding further easing of restrictions.
Indoor playgrounds still fall under the category of future steps for consideration, leaving the Treehouse Adventure Centre in the dark with no date set for re-opening.
It comes as almost every other business across the city has been able to start operation in some form.
“We hope to be open soon, but we just do not have a firm date, so we just do not know, it is very confusing at the moment,” Mr Owen said.
“All we ask for is a date, just tell us when we can be open so that we can get ready for it.
“We have worked too damn hard to lose these two businesses for the community.”
Mr Owen expressed his frustration about indoor playgrounds being pigeon-holed into the same category as nightclubs, despite being a children entertainment centre.
“We fall in the same category as nightclubs and they do not want nightclubs open because they cannot do the social-distancing,” he said.
“Unfortunately that does not help us out – we want to be removed from that category and put in one of our own.”
Despite being forced to close down just days after they relaunched the Tree house Adventure Centre at its new home in the Active8 complex on Penola Road, Mr Owen was remaining positive.
“I always try to look at the silver lining and this has given us time to settle in here and create a better space,” he said.
“If we had stayed open we would not have been able to get a go-kart track in here and some of the other exciting things we will have to offer – I have not stopped during the lock down.”
He also indicated the community could expect an exciting announcement regarding the ten pin bowling alley in the near future.
“For Kaboom Entertainment, the restrictions are definitely easing and we hope to make an announcement shortly about when we will re-open,” he said.
“It will be very easy to adhere to health guidelines at Kaboom and while the Treehouse will be more challenging, it is very doable.”
When that time comes to re-open, Mr Owen expected both businesses to bounce back strongly.
“I feel like we are pretty blessed in this community and we might be in an industry that is restricted at the moment, I still think we will bounce back quickly,” he said.
“Especially now that we are in winter, people cannot necessarily go play in the parks, so they will hopefully come and support us when they can.”
