John Kinder, program director for The Zone at Northwest Arena, believes The Zone will provide a safe and educational place for children and youth to play at Northwest Arena. With an official launch for the Zone eyed for 2024, Kinder outlined what people can expect to experience at The Zone. Pictured is a rendering of the outside of Northwest Arena and The Zone. Submitted Photo

With The Zone planning for an official launch in 2024, John Kinder, program director for The Zone at Northwest Arena, believes the new children’s space will have a major impact on families in the community.

Asked what people can expect once The Zone is operational, Kinder said one of the first things that comes to mind is Dave & Buster’s, a popular game and entertainment business chain with advanced technology.

“Just a really fun, indoor play space for kids and something that is unprecedented truly in this area,” he said. “We don’t have anything like it, I’d argue in the entire northeast. It’s a 6,200 square feet indoor play environment where kids will learn about sports and steam principles and be introduced to nutrition facts.”

Kinder said children and youth will start their navigation of The Zone by entering the lobby, which will feature a locker room where children will be introduced to nutrition facts and be able to play interactive games.

After the lobby, Kinder said guests will enter through the sports tunnel, where kids will have their name introduced and will enter into a “very strong technological” play space.

“It’s very tech savvy and technologically advanced,” he said. “They’ll get wristbands upon registering, and those wristbands are like smart wristbands so they can tap into various exhibits and more or less interact with them and really personalize their experience as they kind of maneuver through the play space.”

After guests enter through the sports tunnel, they will enter the “free play zone,” which Kinder described as an open area with a variety of hoops and balls for children to play with. He added that there will be floor and wall markings for children and youth to test and measure their wingspan, vertical leap and broad jump.

“To the left, there will be a safe enclosure for that we call our toddler bullpen, into baseball themed, safe soft play enclosure for our young guests,” Kinder said. “There they will be interacting as well with games that are going to help their sensory development. It’s just that educational component woven throughout the entire play space.”

The Zone will also feature a rock climbing wall and a two-tiered climbing structure with a digital scavenger hunt. With a play space that will try to “capture all the sports you can think of,” Kinder said there will be “plenty” for children and youth to enjoy.

Kinder said the Northwest Arena is anticipating The Zone to be “pretty busy,” as families come to the arena for figure skating, ice hockey, and various programs. The Zone will provide a place for families with younger children to have a space to play while other events or activities are being held at the arena.

According to Kinder, the “smart wristbands” will allow families to drop their children off at The Zone and “keep tabs on them” through the wristband while they are across the street at the National Comedy Center. Additionally, The Zone is planning on hosting birthday parties, allowing families to rent the space.

Kinder believes The Zone will have a major impact on the community once it is officially open for the public.

“I think it’s going to have an incredible community impact not only from the physical nature, being able to have year-round leisure indoors, but also from just a community development standpoint and the economy and adding business for local restaurants and storefronts and different things like that,” he said. “Just given the influx of people that are going to be coming in to experience The Zone, it’s going to help push business to some outer businesses as well. We’re really excited about that and the fact that it truly is going to be a multipurpose community attraction.”

Kinder said the concept of The Zone came from multiple conversations with Northwest Arena’s board a few years ago, prior to his time on the board. As a nonprofit organization, Kinder said Northwest Arena’s goal is always to work toward “self-sustainability,” which led to conversations about the creation of The Zone. Kinder added that the board was interested in designing a space where children could play while their parents were at the arena for activities or events with their older siblings.

“It really was birthed from an idea that small and kind of has evolved and transformed into something that I don’t think anyone could foresee,” he said. “We’re super excited about it.”

In addition to serving as a “play space” for children, Kinder said The Zone will have educational programming housed within its space. Some of the educational programming will include resume-building nights, workforce development workshops and opportunities for partnerships and collaboration with local youth development agencies, such as the Boy and Girls Club or Striders.

“We’ve already started to build those relationships with those folks, because we in no way view ourselves as competition, but we rather would like to supplement and add value to the existing work that’s already being done on that front,” he said. “We’re really excited about the programming. We’ve already started holding field trips of different events within The Zone, both educational and physical.”

Kinder also told The post-Journal that Northwest Arena has become a viable vendor through the Cooperative Service Program under BOCES. As a vendor under the program, local schools can visit Northwest Arena on field trips that are funded by state aid, allowing students to enjoy ice skating, ice bumper cars, and physical and educational workshops in The Zone.

“We’re cruising and we just look forward to hitting the ground running once we’re actually officially open,” he said.