Former Jefferson School property to become site of indoor trampoline facility

QUINCY — A Quincy developer plans to turn property unused for nearly 40 years into the site for an indoor trampoline facility.

Schuster Development LLC of Quincy bought a 2.19-acre vacant lot at 301 Spring from Riverside Community Church for $237,500 on Aug. 31, according to property tax documents filed in the Adams County Recorder’s Office.

The property formerly was the site of Jefferson School, which closed in 1983. Riverside Community Church bought the property in 2003 with plans to convert the building into a church. However, vandals caused $80,000 damage to the building and a new roof was needed, so the plan fizzled. The school eventually was demolished during the summer of 2013.

Kasey Schuster, the agent for Schuster Development LLC, also owns his own construction company. He hopes to begin construction in early 2023 and have it open by the end of 2023 or early 2024.

“I’ve been thinking about this for about a little more than a year,” Schuster said. “I think what made me pull the trigger was when I was watching a Steve Harvey motivational video. He said, ‘At some point, you’ve got to jump.’ It was like, you know what, let’s just pull the trigger and let’s get this thing going.”

Schuster said the facility will be called Krazy Town. He plans to model it after Sky Zone indoor trampoline facilities in Columbia, Mo., Fenton, Mo., Belleville, Ill., and Springfield, Ill. 

“There will be wide open spaces of trampolines where kids can jump, and then there will be American Ninja Warrior course-type stuff in there,” Schuster said. “It will be somewhat like the old ‘Going Bonkers’ (formerly at 229 N. 48^th) with slides and obstacle courses and stuff like that in there, but it will all be tied in with the trampolines as well.

“I’ve been scouting (similar facilities). We went to one in Chicago and to a couple down in the St. Louis area. We’ve been to four of them, and we kind of got an idea of some dos and don’ts and what we want ours to look like.”

With two children ages 2 and 4 and another child on the way, Schuster sees the need for a facility like Krazy Town.

“Having younger kids and seeing the need for stuff for kids to do here in Quincy has been really the passion behind this,” he said.

Schuster also helped to create two outdoor basketball courts at Berrian Park. He and about 20 volunteers worked with the Quincy Park District, which spent more than $40,000 to date on materials. Volunteers like Schuster provided all the labor.

“I’m (creating the trampoline park) for same reason I did the Berrian basketball courts,” Schuster said. “I have a heart for that neighborhood. I’m from that neighborhood. I believe Quincy’s downtown is going to be taking off here in the next few years. We’ve got a lot of people invested in really trying to make that happen, and I really like the way that it’s going.”

The trampoline park also will help create what could be called a “kids alley” in downtown Quincy. Two blocks to the south is the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Center at the corner of Fourth and Broadway, and another block further south at 230 N. Third is the home of the Quincy Children’s Museum in the former Quincy Paper Box building.

“Hopefully we can create a partnership with the museum,” Schuster said. “And I think we can be a good partner with the Kroc Center, because we’re offering something that’s completely different than anything the Kroc Center has. We’re looking to do summer camps and really be involved with local schools and things like that as we go forward as well.”