Urban Air Adventure Park Altoona in the Park Hills Plaza features 26,000 square feet of attractions for young and old alike.

The facility is Urban Air’s sixth Pennsylvania location among its 80 franchises.

D.P. Altoona LLC is the local franchise owner. Urban Air Altoona’s leadership team is a four-member partnership of Royce and Heather Palau and David Jr. and Alexandra DeGol.

Urban Air is home to the Adventure Hub, a unique combination of indoor activities such as a Ninja Warrior Course, Ropes Course and Tubes Playground. It also features the Slam Dunk Zone and Climbing Walls.

Mirror photos by Gary M. Baranec Paul Blankinship puts finishing touches on the Warriors Course at the Urban Air Adventure Park Altoona in the Park Hills Plaza. The indoor park features 26,000 square feet of attractions for people of all ages.

“We are very excited to open a fun-filled indoor amusement venue designed for the whole family,” Royce Palau, partner and general manager, said. “This is exactly the type of healthy entertainment our community has been looking for and we couldn’t have chosen a better place to put an Urban Air than in Altoona.”

David DeGol Jr. is excited to see the project become a reality.

“It has been an exhausting long journey,” he said. “We believe the community is real excited about it. We never anticipated the number of people behind us. We have over 12,000 followers on our Facebook page and we are not open yet. No other Urban Air Adventure Park has had that many followers prior to opening.”

Urban Air is a welcome addition to the community.

The Altoona Blair County Development Corp.’s board and staff played a role in bringing the project to fruition — ABCD approved a $300,000 Enterprise Zone loan as part of the more than $2 million total project in partnership with Reliance Bank.

“We are excited to welcome Urban Air Adventure Park to the First Frontier Blair County and we are grateful to the local leadership team for its investment and commitment to its hometown,” said Stephen McKnight, president/CEO of ABCD Corp. “Having a variety of family friendly attractions in conjunction with our vast array of outdoor activities strengthens our region’s appeal for visitors and talent attraction /retention.”

“Blair County has some great outdoor venues for people to relax, compete and enjoy. It’s significantly more limited in terms of indoor venues. Urban Air Ad­venture Park will be a welcome addition to our community. It has built a solid track record for success in communities throughout Pennsylvania. We are happy to have them here,” said Joe Hurd, president and CEO of the Blair County Chamber of Com­merce.

The new business has led to the creation of 90 part-time and four full-time jobs, David DeGol Jr. said.

DeGol is encouraging parents to try out the activities with their children.

“We want this to be a family experience. Parent passes are significantly cheaper than the kids’ passes,” DeGol said.

Parent passes are $5.99 per day while kids’ passes range from $9.99 to $26.99 per day, depending on the activities chosen.

DeGol is pushing the benefits of memberships.

Kids can get unlimited visits to the park with one monthly price, starting at $7.99 a month. Upgrades to the membership program can include daily food, snacks and even a birthday party package each year.

“Memberships are a great deal. You need to come six times a year to make it worthwhile,” DeGol said.

Urban Air also will host birthday parties and other events.

“This is also a great place for corporate team building events, school field trips and for any kind of group. We will also have a summer camp called “Camp Urbie,” DeGol said.

Urban Air will host fundraising events where organizations can keep 20 percent of the proceeds.

Other programs are also being planned.

“We are working with local parents of special needs children in order to have events catered to their children’s needs because this park is for them to enjoy just as much as anyone else,” DeGol said. “We believe every child deserves the most amazing birthday. Many foster families can not afford a birthday for the children they are caring for. That’s why we are working on a program to be able to give local foster children a free birthday party because they deserve it as much as anyone else.”

The chamber, in partnership with ABCD Corp., will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. today, followed by a private first-responders appreciation event at 6 p.m. The official public grand opening will be at 10 a.m. Saturday.

On Saturday, the first 200 in line to purchase an ultimate pass for $26.99 will receive a one year basic pass good for one entry per week for an entire year, an $830 value, DeGol said.

Urban Air is all about the community, DeGol said.

“The community has rallied behind us and we will rally behind the community,” DeGol said. “If we are not making an impact on people’s lives through Urban Air, then we are not doing our job as business owners.”

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.