Urban Air Adventure Park construction begins in North Huntingdon

Construction has begun on an indoor adventure park in North Huntingdon that will feature a variety of activities, including a multi-level indoor go-cart race track and is expected to open next year.

Concrete footers were poured recently for what will become the Urban Air Adventure Park at Huntingdon Marketplace along Mills Lane.

Developer Don Tarosky Jr., a partner in Colony Holding Companies of North Huntingdon, said it is expected to be completed in the spring. It is being constructed as a free-standing building on the 22-acre Huntingdon Marketplace development that already has a private school, a Walmart and a strip of commercial buildings.

The new Urban Air Adventure Park will be what franchise owner John Wambold described as an Urban Air “superstore” because it will be more than double the size of his 25,000-square-foot Urban Air parks in Cranberry and Robinson.

The 62,000 square feet of ground-floor space will house a multi-story electric go-cart track, trampoline areas, a climbing wall, a sky coaster that transports riders around the facility, five party rooms and concession stands. The space also will contain a 9,000-square-foot second-floor mezzanine that will have a parent lounge area, go-cart track viewing platform and five additional party rooms, Tarosky said.

Wambold estimated the cost of developing the adventure park at around $5 million. The adventure parks typically are busiest from December through March, when weather limits outdoor activities, Wambold said.

Tarosky said he anticipates turning over the building to Urban Air in the spring, depending on the weather this winter and any supply chain disruptions that have plagued construction projects.

The work is starting nearly three years after plans were presented to North Huntingdon officials for the development, which has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s a fun moment. This is 1,125 days in the making,” Tarosky said of the beginning of the construction.

The pandemic also put a dent in the adventure park business. Wambold said they were shut down under state orders for a few months in 2020, then had limited capacity when they were permitted to reopen. The state then ordered such businesses closed over the holidays of 2020. There also was a reluctance by people to gather in indoor spaces.

To operate the adventure park, Wambold said there will be about 75 employees, with about five full time. With the tight labor market, Wambold said wages for the part-time workers will increase from about $8.50 per hour to between $10 and $12 per hour. That increases operating costs, he noted.

Urban Air, based on Bedford, Texas, stated on its website it has 290 adventure parks opened or under development. Another of those under development is at the Waterfront shopping complex in Munhall, according to Urban Air.

Urban Air’s website states that its entertainment parks generate about $2.8 million, based on its 2022 franchise disclosure document.