The first Surge Trampoline Park opened on Jan. 28 2017, in Opelika, and the franchise is now beginning to spread across the Southeast.
“We just want to provide a fun and a safe place,” said Chase Higgens, the general manager for the Opelika Surge Park. “We want to be a spot where you can hang out and have fun.”
The park features a variety of trampoline activities including dodgeball and basketball dunking.
Higgins said that the most popular age range for Surge customers is 12-15, but all ages are welcome.
“We’ve hosted plenty of sororities in the year that we’ve been open,” Higgins said.
Surge hosts a college night every Thursday from 5-9 p.m. during the school year where students who present a student ID can get an hour of access for $9.95. Organizations can also rent the park out.
“The big benefit that we have is we’re the largest of the indoor entertainment or attraction places,” Higgins said. “If you’ve got a huge college group, you know, student group or a sorority, a fraternity, it’s not one of those things where our capacity is so low that you have to split the group up and do the activity all at different times. We have such a large facility that everyone can enjoy the activity all at the same time, so that’s what makes it such a good place for college groups.”
Higgins said that Surge is in the process of creating a fitness class that uses the trampolines.
Higgins also said they want to eventually add a “ninja warrior course” to the Opelika park like other Surge parks have.
“Initially, when we drafted the plans for this park, it was something we had added to the plans, but at the last minute, we decided not to put it here just yet,” said Higgins. “[The ninja warrior course] was going to be kind of something that we use as we build up a better base and got more comfortable in the community.”
Higgens said that several of Surge’s employees are Auburn students.
“Definitely an opportunity to do some easy work with a schedule that works around courses,” Higgins said.
Surge is looking into selling season passes in the future, Higgens added.
“We put a big emphasis on the cleanliness of our park,” Higgins said. “Because we believe, you know, we’ve got all the attractions here to make it fun, but if we’re not making it clean and if we’re not revisiting our policies constantly, then it’s going to take a certain degree of the fun out of it.”
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