Does Anyone Remember the Outdoor Trampoline Park in Albion?
Finishing the construction on US-12 and the installment of I-94 in 1960, Albion became a booming city that used the highway traffic to its fullest extent. Right off the Albion exit on N Eaton St, in what is the present-day Ford dealership, sat an outdoor trampoline park.
So, think something like Skyzone, Urban Air, Airborne, or other indoor trampoline parks, except the entire park was placed outside. The Albion locals and those who stopped while traveling had a place for their children to jump on a trampoline for an affordable price.
Air Albion
A Reddit post from a user (@1900grs) shared a link to the historical page sharing the details about Albion's way too early idea and garnishing quite the response from those who were there.
There were 12 trampolines, and the site was surrounded by a basic chain-linked fence and a circular driveway. The trampolines were set at ground level, and each was supported by a recessed cement casing where the springs holding the trampolines came out of.
Each trampoline had a timer by it as it cost 50 cents per half hour, as the youth would use their allowance to pay. Over time they became better at jumping and would flip from trampoline to trampoline, which obviously posed danger.
There were numerous broken wrists, ankles, and other bones. Youth would make flips to “show off” and hit their head on the cement sides or would get their foot caught between the trampoline canvas and the cement edge. There are rumors of someone filing a lawsuit after being injured, but only one lawsuit seems suspicious.
Assault By Air
Apparently, Albion wasn't the only place that you could be catching air around this time. Many others commented that their cities also had outdoor trampoline parks, but I couldn't find anything when I went looking in the archives.
Although, if all the commenters are correct then there also would have been outdoor trampoline parks in Kalamazoo, Farmington Hills, Tawas, and Oscoda. That's at least five cities right here in Michigan that were WAY ahead of the trampoline park game.
Now that indoor trampoline parks are so popular, I'm starting to wonder if good ole Albion and the rest of the state of Michigan were inspirations to these indoor parks.