Click here for Greater Long Island newsletters. Click here to download the iPhone app.
Dave Wolmetz and Keith Handler have brought family-friendly entertainment back to Lake Grove.
The lifelong friends from South Setauket opened Urban Air, a 48,000-square-foot indoor adventure park, at 3147 Middle Country Road in a former JCPenney store, this past November.
It’s an area familiar to the two.
“Keith used to work at the Smithaven Mall in high school, and I worked at the nearby Red Lobster,” said Wolmetz, reminscing.
Now the Ward Melville High School graduates, who both have children that are or near teenagers, want to fill a void in the area — especially since the island’s widely-popular family center, Sports Plus, closed in the area over a decade ago.
“We want to get kids away from their screens and get them into an active and family-friendly setting,” said Handler. “And there isn’t any place like this nearby.”
In the space, Urban Air features wall-to-wall attractions, including its high ropes obstacle course, trampolines, playgrounds, bumper cars, and rock climbing.
There’s also the 230-foot Sky Rider Indoor Coaster, which is a zipline-style ride that suspends harnassed passengers 30-feet in the air throughout its tracked course.
“You run and take off yourself,” explained Wolmetz on the instantly popular ride. “It wraps you around to different platforms and then you take off again; it’s amazing and the kids love it so far.”
The facility, which has activities for all age groups (including adults), focuses on interactivity.
“We want people to be moving,” said Wolmetz. “Even with our arcade area, all of our games involve motions from our basketball game to air hockey.”
In addition to attractions, Urban Air also has cafe and lounge areas. There are eight party rooms that hold up to 30 people per room.
The space can also be reconfigured for fundraisers or corporate events.
Since opening, the owners say the response has been incredible thus far.
“People have come up to us saying they are thankful they have something to with their kids,” said Wolmetz. “They are appreciative we are bringing a safe, clean fun environment to the community.”
how it works
Other than the attractions themselves, the biggest difference from Urban Air to other indoor activities is its pricing model.
Instead of paying per hour, Urban Air charges a different package for access to different parts of the facility for the entire day.
As of press time, the daily passes ranged from $24.99 to $37.99 per child. There’s also monthly memberships available. Click here for any updated pricing.
