BUZZ: Trampoline park on the way

Sawmill Mini Golf will expand with an indoor fun facility

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Dylan Alwin and his business partner David Guld plan to open an indoor trampoline park next to Sawmill Mini Golf by next spring.

Dylan Alwin and David Guld never imagined they’d own a mini golf course, and didn’t even know what a trampoline park was until a few years ago.

But in the next year, Alwin and Guld will operate both. They opened Sawmill Mini Golf last year and now plan to build an adjacent indoor trampoline park. The trampoline park will be housed in what’s now the Finishing Touch office building, another business Alwin and Guld co-own.

The 15,000-square-foot building will feature an open trampoline area, dodgeball arena, climbing walls, and soft indoor playground. It will also have party rooms, a cafe, and lounge area. Alwin wants to bring in a fitness instructor for trampoline workouts, and offer designated “toddler time” and teen nights.

When Alwin and Guld moved their sign business Finishing Touch to 608 Creske Ave. in Rothschild two years ago, the long-defunct mini golf park came with the property. They renovated the course, which proved to be a rousing success since they reopened last year.

Alwin was introduced to trampoline parks five years ago during a family vacation to California. On one rainy morning, “We said, ‘What do we do today?’” He found an indoor trampoline park nearby, but didn’t even know what it was. But, “When I walked through the door, I immediately knew I really liked the concept. In that nine-day trip, we ended up going to the park three times.”

Indoor trampoline parks have sprung up all over the country. The nearest to Wausau, in Eau Claire and Appleton, draw families from all over the state.

The concept fits into Alwin and Guld’s other business considerations. Finishing Touch’s office building has more space than they need, so they’ll relocate that operation into the nearby production facility. The office building then will be expanded and renovated into the trampoline park, and renamed Sawmill Mini Golf and Adventure Park. Alwin hopes to start construction by late fall, and open in spring 2018.