Patch Editors Check Out Oswego's Bounce Town

-

Story by Dawn Aulet
Video by Natalie Stevens

When I was a child, bounce houses were not around. Not like today. Although you might run into an indoor inflatable place, (the first opened in 1986 in Louisiana), these were certainly not things you saw at every church picnic and every other birthday party.

But times have changed. Today, not only are bouncies seemingly everywhere, they have also graduated from the simple bouncehouse to complicated structures that allow for obstacle course competition, basketball games and giant slides.

In a light industrial park in Oswego, you will find every one of the above listed jumpies. Bounce Town has 20,000 square feet of space and jumpies for every age group.

Bounce Town opened its doors 7 years ago when owners Chris and Denise Arnold took the plunge to be business owners.

“We moved back to Illinois and we wanted a family-friendly business,” Denise Arnold said.

Bounce Town, which is tucked away, but easy enough to find if you follow the signs, is open From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays; 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays; 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. Weekend hours vary.

During the summer, they are offering buy one get one half off for open jumping hours on Tuesdays.

And bouncing is not just for the kids. Adults bounce at Bounce Town as well.

“We had one party for a 50-year-old,” Denise Arnold said.

While most of the participants were kids at the party, adults did get involved. And, Denise Arnold said parents are welcome to bounce with their kids and they don’t have to pay an additional fee to do so.

You can learn more about Bounce Town, including its weekend hours by visiting the Web site at http://www.bouncetownparty.com/