Sky Zone Gets Thumbs Up ... and Not in Northborough

Westborough kids likely will soon jump at opportunities to visit Speedway Plaza on Route 9 at a facility

The Sky Zone indoor trampoline park received special permit approval from the planning board Tuesday night for vacant space behind the Burlington Coat Factory at 290 Turnpike Road.

"I think this is a good market. I think there will be a lot of interest in it," said Vice Chairman Trevor Beauregard, who noted he visited Sky Zone's Hyde Park trampoline park.

D & S Entertainment of Reading, doing business as Sky Zone Recreation, plans to occupy about 35,000 square feet of the Speedway Plaza building, targeting an opening around June 1, D & S part owner David O'Connor said during the public hearing in the Forbes Municipal Building. BJ's Wholesale Club previously used the space, he said.

O'Connor said he now requires approval from Stop & Shop, which also operates in the plaza, to open there. He anticipates the supermarket's decision in a week.

O'Connor's firm had planned to open in Northborough, at 30 Forbes Road, before the Westborough space became available.

O'Connor said after Tuesday night's vote in Westborough that "Northborough remains on the board" because Stop & Shop hasn't give him its decision.

O'Connor told the planning board that the park would be "along the lines of Lazer Tag."

Customers would pay a fee, use the space for that time, "and then the next group is coming in behind you," he said.

"Birthday parties are a big part of it," O'Connor said.

The Westborough park would have four party rooms, and host fundraisers, parties and corporate gatherings, he said. The park could handle 147 people, he said.

The Westborough Sky Zone would generate most of its business from ages six to 18 or 19, O'Connor said. Toddler time also would be available, he said.

During the school year, the facility would be open from about 3 to 8 or 9 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. on weekends, O'Connor said.

"Friday after school through Sunday night is the bulk of it," he said.

The facility would employ about 65 people, he said: four to six salaried managerial positions, with the rest "part-time teenagers, for the most part."

O'Connor said afterward that he expects to seek board of health approval to offer concession stand-type food.

The site will not have a kitchen, he said. All food will be prepared off-site; pizza, for example, would come from a local shop, he said.