Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Urban Air Bellingham - temporarily closed

"Exactly two years ago today, Urban Air Bellingham opened its doors for the very first time.

On that day, we woke up to a couple feet of snow on the ground and a huge line of people wrapped around the building waiting to welcome us to the community. For me and Chad, it was the culmination of nearly two years of work, preparation, anxiety and anticipation. We put our lives on the line for this crazy endeavor and we had no idea what to expect.

But you showed up. You came early and you came often. You jumped on the trampolines and flew on the Sky Rider. You scaled the Climbing Walls and conquered the Warrior Course. You trusted us to host the most important days of the year for your children and watched in awe as they overcame their fears and made it to the top of the wall. You let us know when we were succeeding and how we could improve. You stuck with us and made us better.

The overwhelming support of this community is something I treasure deeply and will never take for granted. The people I have met and the relationships I have created are beyond anything I could have imagined. There’s no better feeling than walking through the park and seeing the wide-eyed faces of our guests as they make lasting memories with their families and friends. It’s something I can’t wait to see again soon.

We have been incredibly fortunate to have a staff of wonderful, caring team members. Many of them have been with us since the doors opened two years ago and have become familiar faces to you. They greeted you when you arrived, hosted your parties, encouraged your children and served your food. They are the lifeblood of Urban Air and we could not survive without them. I love seeing the emails, reviews and recommendations that tell me how terrific our staff is.

This last week has been a big blur. Chad and I were constantly discussing the fast-moving Coronavirus situation and we struggled about how to proceed. Last Friday afternoon - with a full weekend of parties booked - we realized we could no longer guarantee a safe space for you and your family, so we made the difficult decision to close, even though many of our competitors decided to stay open. This decision upset many of our guests, and they told us so! But we are local guys with young families, and we treat you, our guests, the way we would our own family. That means protecting you at all costs. It also meant temporarily closing our family business.

As I’ve said many times over the last week, if you are going to talk the talk, you must walk the walk. It took days for the rest of our competitors to follow our lead, but they did eventually join us by closing down.

One thing I have learned over these last two years is that this community looks out for each other. We will get through this together. We will take care of each other. We will make sure nobody gets left behind. This isn’t what we had in mind when we were thinking about how to celebrate our second anniversary, but this is our reality, and it will make us stronger. We will celebrate together one day soon.

Thank you for coming to Urban Air. Thank you for your smiles, your birthday parties, your special occasions, your family outings. Thank you for being there for us. We are here for you."

Stay safe and well,
Andy Powell
Owner, Urban Air Bellingham


3D Park Tour! >>> tinyurl.com/UrbanAir3DTour

 
Urban Air Bellingham - temporarily closed
Urban Air Bellingham - temporarily closed

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