SOAR! Adventure Park Sets Tentative Opening for Mid-October

Findlay Families Will No Longer Need to Travel for Active Fun

By Sarah Mayle

As long as construction and set-up continue on schedule, in less than three months, Findlay will have its own adventure park for active fun. Kids and adults alike will be able to let loose on trampolines, a zipline, climbing walls, racing slides, and more at SOAR! Adventure Park.

“It’s tentative, but we’re looking at mid-October to open,” said Andy Wysocki, owner of SOAR, along with two other Findlay investor families.

Construction of the 24,000 square-foot indoor adventure park, located on County Road 236 in the Timberstone Commons Shopping Center, is well underway. It will feature a 24-foot climbing wall, a 55-foot zip line, 17 trampolines, an ultimate dodgeball court, jump slides and slide races, a battle beam with giant air bag, a 12-foot bouldering wall, a ninja course, giant air bags placed throughout for safety, and a soft play toddler area. Added to original plans, there will be an arcade featuring Ski Ball, Basketball, Pop-A-Shot and air hockey. There will be designated areas for parties, and parents are encouraged to play, too.

Screens are so much a part of kids’ lives that SOAR wanted to “focus on pure, clean fun.” They choose to avoid virtual reality games and minimize screens, flashing lights, or strobes. There will be murals inside with mountains, birds of prey, and patriotic tributes to Findlay as Flag City, with wood accents throughout the building. Patrons will enter through a timber frame, and the park will have an overall lodge-type feel.

A Close Call

Wysocki is grateful to CEO & President of Ohio Logistics Chuck Bills for stepping in to support the project when the cost to construct the building took an unexpected major increase. Believing in the vision of SOAR, Ohio Logistics became the development partner SOAR needed to keep the dream alive.

“He knows the importance of this type of facility to the community,” Wysocki said of Bills. “He wanted to help, and he also sees this as a complement to his existing business – it strengthens the workforce when you can attract new families who want to live and work in Findlay.”

SOAR Hires Director of Operations; Employment Opportunities Coming

When the SOAR team was in Georgia visiting a park and evaluating an equipment supplier last fall, they met Brent Fortenberry, who had just started working for the supplier. They weren’t looking to hire right then, but as they spoke with Fortenberry, they knew, “this was our guy,” Wysocki said.

Part-Owner of SOAR Andy Wysocki (left), and Brent Fortenberry (right), new SOAR director of operations, stand in front of building plans for the adventure park.

From Virginia Beach, VA, Fortenberry has spent more than a decade in Family Entertainment Center management and will move to Findlay in August with his wife, son, and a son on the way. His unique experience doesn’t stop there – Fortenberry spent nearly 20 years performing on SOAR Dunk Team through Liberty University – his alma mater where he studied sports management.

During SOAR Dunk Team performances, the team positioned trampolines near a basketball hoop and performed acrobatics, tricks, flips and of course, dunks. They were a ministry team – SOAR stands for sold out and ready – and performed and spoke at many Christian events. When performing at non-Christian events, such as a halftime shows, they took on other positive topics, like maneuvering through peer pressure, making positive choices, and anti-bullying messaging. Fortenberry even started a non-profit to keep SOAR going when funding from the university ran out.

Both Wysocki and Fortenberry couldn’t help but feel like the name of the dunk team and the name of the new adventure park – SOAR – was something of a sign. It all just came together with perfect timing.

“The way he talked about customer service, treating your customers so that they want to come back, and how he treats his employees really struck a chord with us, and it was easy to see he knew what he was talking about,” Wysocki said. “He has already been such a great asset to us, asking us questions we hadn’t thought of yet to help refine our programming and get us prepared for opening day and into the future.”

Wysocki said many people applied for the position locally and were qualified from a leadership standpoint but didn’t have experience running a family entertainment center. Some of those applicants may still be a great fit for other positions.

The park will employ about 30 people, with positions such as management, party host, cashiers and court monitors. Wysocki and Fortenberry vividly remember great jobs and terrible ones in high school and want their employees to enjoy working at SOAR.

“We want to be that great job and hopefully influence kids in a positive direction while providing balance with the other important things in life,” Wysocki said.

Fortenberry agrees, “That’s something I’ve always been big on. I know a lot of kids in high school or college, they have unique schedules. I like to promote flexible work schedules so it’s a fit for everybody.”

How will it Work?

SOAR will be the third entertainment park in the country to offer Intelliband technology for its guests. Intellibands are electronic, Smart wristbands that can track jumps, climbs and other measurables that appear on a leaderboard.

“Kids can compete with their friends daily, weekly or monthly,” Fortenberry said. “Kids love it – they want to see their name on the leaderboard and it gamifies the activities.”

The wristband will also help parents locate their kids in the park; offers seamless, simple payment for more time to play; and through a change of color, lets park guests and staff know when time is up.

Wysocki and Fortenberry said programming ideas are still in the works, but they’re considering designated timeslots for toddlers and young kids, University of Findlay students, homeschoolers, those who have special needs, and others. As operations become streamlined, there is the possibility of starting an ultimate dodgeball league, hosting community events, and offering programming through partnerships.

Memberships for 2026 will go on sale around Thanksgiving and into the Christmas season. As long as SOAR opens in mid-October as planned, the first opportunity to book for parties will be early to mid-November.

“We want to be open at least two weeks before we start to book parties to ensure we’re able to execute it very well and leave a great impression,” Fortenberry said.

The Final Stretch

All along for the SOAR owner group, and now with partner Ohio Logistics, SOAR Adventure Park has been a vision, something they wanted to bring to the Findlay community to make it an even better place to live. They wanted to create a place where families could have active fun no matter the season without having to travel, and they wanted to support the local economy.

The SOAR team purchased their equipment from U.S. company Best American Trampolines, which delivers a more expensive, but higher-quality product than purchasing overseas. Locally, Clouse Construction Corp., New Riegel, is the general contractor for SOAR with subcontractors Frankart Mechanical & Electrical, Fostoria; BKA Drywall, Carey; KGS Ohio, Tiffin; and Fast Signs, Findlay. They are also currently looking at a local supplier for team shirts, and Findlay Telecom will install sound, IT infrastructure, and security systems.

Work continues at SOAR, with drywall going up now. The murals will be painted and main sign hung in early August, and equipment installation is not too far on the horizon.

“We’re really excited to finally bring this all to fruition. It’s been two-and-a-half years in the making for us, and it’s exciting we’re so close to having this for Findlay,” Wysocki said.

Fortenberry added, “I am excited about the items they’re bringing in. I can honestly say with over a decade of experience that they’re sparing no expense. They’re putting in really top-quality attractions that fit all ages. I think it’s going to be good for the area and drop more people in, and kids and adults alike are really going to enjoy it.”

Follow SOAR’s website and Facebook page for more information about opening day, employment and memberships.

Learn more about the park and see more photos of coming attractions here.