A new entertainment option for kids and families is coming to the Tri-Cities this fall. 

The space at 1220 N. Columbia Center Blvd. was once home to an array of towels, bedding, curtains, kitchenware and more before the Kennewick Bed Bath and Beyond store closed its doors in 2023. 

Soon the space instead will feature climbing walls, giant slides, trampolines and more. 

A Portland, Oregon, family is at the helm of the Tri-Cities’ first Urban Air Adventure Park, which expects to have more than 100 full- and part-time employees when it opens. 

“The Tri-Cities have a lot of really good family entertainment options, and we’re excited to bring another one to the area,” said Brandon Roben, co-owner along with his father-in-law, Chris Romes.  

Entertainment background

Roben began work in the entertainment industry as a teenager, when he worked at his local Six Flags amusement park in Southern California. The work quickly developed from a seasonal position to a full decade with the organization.

Brandon Roben

Eventually, Roben moved to Oregon, where he helped launch an indoor water park for an air and space museum and later became the executive director. Now, he runs day-to-day operations at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland. 

As his family began to grow, Roben said he began looking into starting a family business. 

“I now have four grandkids, and so we’re really looking for something that would be supportive of kids … where they can really build confidence, have fun,” said Romes, who has retired from a career in software development and is currently the executive director of an orphanage in Tanzania. 

Chris Romes

Urban Air met their goals of a family-focused opportunity that would be commercially viable and successful, Romes said. 

The company was founded in 2011 and boasts more than 350 locations either open or in development, and in the last few years the company’s expansion has been focused on the West Coast. 

Though they initially were looking to open a park in the Portland area, when the opportunity arose to launch the franchise in the Tri-Cities, Roben and Romes took it. 

“We went to the Tri-Cities and just really fell in love with the area,” Romes said. “It’s a really good space, I think, where there’s a lot of families, people are really family-focused. It’s a growing community, seems very supportive of these kinds of projects and businesses.”

Both Roben and Romes’ wives are also involved in the franchise effort, and the group hopes to open other Urban Air locations in the future. 

The facility joins a handful of other entertainment parks with trampolines in the Tri-Cities, including Max Air Trampoline Park, also on Columbia Center Boulevard, and QUAKE Family Fun Center off Badger Road in Kennewick.

Indoor adventure park

Roben and Romes have spent close to two years doing research, finding a location and securing a lease, and getting through the design and architecture phases, Romes said. Now, all that’s left is construction. 

Once it opens in the fall, Urban Air’s Kennewick location will include trampolines, climbing walls, a ropes course, slides, laser tag and more.

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Permits filed with the city of Kennewick value the construction at $2 million for the roughly 31,000-square-foot space. 

It will feature trampolines, climbing walls, a ropes course, slides, dodgeball, a zip line that runs on a track, a warrior course, and laser tag with half walls so spectators can watch. 

“It’s basically an indoor playground for kids where they can hang out and have their friends over, have birthday parties, that kind of thing,” Romes said.

There are party rooms as well as a cafe that sells snacks, from pizzas to Dippin’ Dots, and provides a place to hang out before heading back into the play area. 

The target age range is from elementary to middle schoolers, with some activities that may appeal to teens as well. 

While rates have not yet been set, Urban Air locations typically have a few different price tiers ranging from around $20 to under $40, and one admission is good all day long, Roben said. Monthly passes are also offered.

The hours will likely be similar to Urban Air’s standard hours, which run from 4-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. When school is out, Roben said, the hours are adjusted.

Community impact

A few months before opening, Romes and Roben will be looking to hire a management team, then they’ll need to staff up the Kennewick location.

While the owners are excited about the opportunities Urban Air will provide for kids to play, they’re also looking forward to the employment opportunities the operation will provide to young adults. 

“The best part of my job … is working with young adults and watching them find a part-time job and sometimes turn it into a career, other times get some good work experience and then go off and become nurses, doctors, lawyers, and seeing really that growth,” Roben said. “So we’re excited to do that for the Kennewick area.”

The owners intend to be hands-on as well, increasing their visits to Kennewick as the franchise takes off. 

Roben said that with a new entertainment option in Kennewick, it will boost the industry as a whole.

“We really want to have an impact in the community,” Romes said. “We want to help economically, obviously – bringing new jobs and a new destination for local families, but also partnering with the schools and youth sports and community events and those kinds of things.”

Go to: urbanair.com/washington-kennewick.