February
28, 2004-
To the satisfaction of a large crowd of parents and children
who had been gathering all morning, at noon today the ribbon
was cut, marking the long-awaited grand opening of Knight
Avante's latest soft-foam play area located in the Merle Hay
Mall in Des Moines, IA. Grand opening festivities included
clowns, jugglers, face painters and appearances by the mascots
of two local sports teams, the Des Moines Menace and the Iowa
Cubs. Local children's author, Lisa Broadie Cook held a reading
and book signing while Waldenbooks sold copies to eager customers
right at the play area.
The theme for the play area, "Iowa Outdoors," was
the brainchild of Mall Marketing Manager, Angel Head. An eleven-foot
tree with built-in slide, a giant turtle, replicas of native
Iowa fish, and a river with rocking boats are a few of the
attraction's key elements. The project was sponsored in part
by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and they plan
to hold educational children's "nature seminars"
at the play area on a regular basis.
Needless to say, the play area is a big hit with parents,
children and mall tenants alike. "Every mall should have
something like this," says local resident Brenda Goff.
Meanwhile, mall tenants anxiously look forward to increased
sales, while parents indicate that they will come back to
the mall just for the play area. There may be one serious
problem, however: getting children to leave the play area.
"I know we are going to have a difficult time when it's
time to go," said mother Rayxine Lund upon her arrival-and
they did.
