Charlotte Varcoe
MOUNT Gambier/Berrin residents will be jumping for joy with its trampoline park going through a rebranding.
Previously known as Flip Out – owned by the popular Kaboom Entertainment – the popular attraction will be known as Arena 51.
Earlier last year, what was previously known as the Treehouse Adventure Centre was rebranded to Flip Out with owners Stewart Owen and David Walker buying into the franchise.
A number of trampolines were built into the massive entertainment complex on the Riddoch Highway with children of all ages jumping along.
Five months ago, the entertainment complex announced its trampoline park was closed due to a number of licencing issues.
Now, five months later, the complex is gearing up and getting ready for the rebrand and reopening.
Mr Walker said they had been successful in moving back to an independent business and moved away from the franchise group.
“The benefits of that being we obviously advertise how we like, we are able to sponsor whoever we like and we are able to be really embedded into the community again and not dictated by a franchise,” Mr Walker said.
“We were part of Flip Out but we have now rebranded to Arena 51 Trampoline Park which we will be keeping up and running.”
He said the arena part of the new name came from the fact the trampoline park was part of a bigger entertainment arena with a number of activities.
“We are excited to try and get the business back to full operational capacity, to be able to rehire our staff and provide fun and enjoyment to the whole community again and be able to run our business how it suits our community,” he said.
Mr Walker said they had received quite a lot of support from the community when the trampoline park was first opened with the added benefit of fitness as well as entertainment.
“You can come in and it is not all about jumping around but gives fine motor skills and builds core work so it has been received quite well by the community,” he said.
“During our closure we have had a lot of support from the community, they have been sending lots of messages and just hoping to get us back open.”
Mr Walker said he and Mr Owen had built the business up from where it was about eight years ago when it used to just be the Treehouse Play Cafe.
“We have always invested back into the community and want to bring that new and exciting thing to the community,” he said.
“Between both businesses we will be able to work closely together to keep on building on that family entertainment and that stuff for kids and adults to do together.”
Mr Walker said when the trampoline park reopened, he wanted the community to continue to support the business while it dealt with teething issues and went through the rebranding process.
“We have been closed for five months and we have a long way to catch up,” he said.
“In that time we have lost a lot of good staff who we have had to put off and they have had to move on and get new jobs.
“There are going to be some teething issues to start with but nonetheless we are excited to be bringing this back to the community and we hope they support us.”
Although the rebranding continued to take place, there was no date for a reopening yet.
