116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Jumping Into Play: Footprint of family entertainment centers growing in the Corridor
The entertainment center/trampoline park industry was projected to crack $1 billion in 2024
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On a quiet weekday morning — weekday mornings being one of the few quiet times — the games and activity stations at the AirFX Trampoline Park in Hiawatha are like something from a third grader’s daydream.
“If we had to pin down a sweet spot, I would say it’s probably the eight-year-olds,” said Doug Goetzinger. “That’s right in their wheelhouse, but we have time for the six-and-under kids. On the weekends in the mornings, you can’t be older than six and their parents can jump with them. We call that our Junior Jumpers.”
Children jump around the large array of trampolines at AirFX in Hiawatha, Iowa on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Kayli Stumpf of Callender smiles as she lifts up her son Chase Stumpf while playing in the foam pit at AirFX in Hiawatha, Iowa on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
Children play on the equipment at The Fun Station, 200 Collins Rd. NE, in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Edwards Entertainment currently has three locations in Iowa: Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and one in Eldridge that serves the Quad Cities. The company is building a 70,000-square-foot indoor family adventure park in southwest Cedar Rapids. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
“There’s strong demand for good old family fun, is how we like to phrase it,” said Fun Station owner Nick Edwards. “Families are wanting more time together and things to do.”
The area’s first trampoline park, AirFX boasted 12,000 square feet of wall-to-wall bouncing space when it opened in 2014. Since Goetzinger and his wife Tina bought the business in 2019, they’ve added climbing walls, courts for aerostrike — a basketball hybrid played on trampoline — the Ninja Warrior Zone featuring “24 unique elements that will test your skills and push your body to the limit,” and other features.
“We thought there’s some new things we could do to bring some new life to the place,” Goetzinger said. ““We added in the last few years the climbing and the Ninja and the other things. It really was just trampolines back in 2014.”
That’s the same year Edwards bought the Play Station, adding trampolines and other activities to become the Fun Station.
Both businesses have evolved from strictly trampoline parks to what’s become known as family entertainment centers. The centers combine in large indoor spaces games and activities such as laser tag and miniature golf with features of traditional full-scale amusement parks and arcades. According to the business site Market.us News, the entertainment center/trampoline park industry was projected to crack $1 billion in 2024.
The area’s young families are apparently a healthy market: in addition to AirFX and Fun Station, Cedar Rapids has a location of the national SkyZone chain, another center is planned for a former movie theater, and Edwards plans a big expansion. Additionally, DEFY Iowa City is a trampoline park with a ninja course. Venues like BowlDogs in North Liberty and SpareTime in Cedar Rapids feature arcades and other activities.
“It’s a good market, or they wouldn’t be coming into this market or expanding,” said Goetzinger. “It is a good market in our experience, so it doesn’t surprise me competitors are continuing to come in and set up shop.”
Operators are always exploring new activities to bring new customers and return business.
“That’s a constant evolution,” Goetzinger said. “We want to change things up, bring some new things in, and keep things new and interesting.”
“We’re always evolving and looking for new things,” said Edwards.
The mix of attractions is key for families with older children.
“We see at every location families that have a three-year-old and a 13-year-old,” Edwards said. “It’s about trying to have enough variety.”
Edwards was managing a resort and water park in western Iowa when he and his wife decided to move closer to their extended families in 2014.
“We ended up having our son’s third birthday at the Play Station,” he said. “It was the very last day the original owners were going to have the location. All of our family was from this area, so we thought it would be a great opportunity closer to home.”
His Edwards Entertainment Company now operates Fun Stations in Dubuque and the Quad Cities and plans to open a new 70,000-square-foot indoor park this fall at 8920 Brighton Way SW, off Kirkwood and Wright Brothers boulevards. The current 12,000-square-foot Fun Station on Collins Road NE will close when the new facility — billed as the state’s largest indoor adventure park with more than 20 attractions — opens.
“We really wanted to do something bigger in Cedar Rapids,” Edwards said. “We wanted to be located still in Cedar Rapids but we wanted it closer to the Corridor.”
Recent industry growth has been into repurposed retail and movie theater spaces idled by disruptions in those industries.
“Throughout the industry that’s a big trend, repurposing a lot of those spaces,” Goetzinger said.
That’s apparently the plan for the former AMC Classic theater at 2435 Edgewood Rd. SW, purchased in January for $750,000. New owner 2435 Edgewood LLC, based in Fall River, Mass., has taken out building permits to convert the 46,181-square-foot space into Fun City Trampoline Park.
Efforts to contact the new owner were unsuccessful, and the assessor’s records include a “need more info” note.
Edwards considered but decided against remodeling a space into his new location.
“We felt the best fit for our location was going to be a new building,” he said. “Just being able to start fresh was going to work better.”
Entertainment centers typically require parents’ presence when their children are playing, so lounges with concessions and other amenities are a must, too.
“We view ourselves as a family activity and we have a large seating area with free Wi-Fi so parents can relax or catch up on work while their kids are playing,” said Goetzinger.
The centers also include semiprivate rooms for birthday parties and family gatherings, and food is a big part of the business. Pizza is a given for the younger target audience, but Edwards said his new place will have a larger menu.
“We’ll have places where you can go and get a full meal, places where you can get a cup of ice cream,” he said. “We’ll have an area by the duckpin bowling where there will be a bar setting.”
At most centers, parents pay about $20 for two hours of their children’s play, with cheaper rates for use of the climbing walls only. Annual memberships offer varying levels of access for about $18 to $26 a month, with discounts on concessions, merchandise, and events.
“We have a great member base that’s been growing since we introduced memberships a number of years ago,” Goetzinger said.
AirFX employs up to 60 people, many of them teenagers working part-time, during its busiest times.
“In the winter months the weekends are our busy times,” Goetzinger said. “Weeknights we do a steady business, but the really packed-out days are on the weekends. In summer it almost inverts: We have a steady business because the kids are out of school and they’ll come here for something to do.”
Edwards expects the new Fun Station will employ about 140, up 100 from its current location.
“Each attraction requires you to have an attendant, like if you’re at an amusement park,” he said.
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