ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180016
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: New to the Valley
Owners: Jane and Chuck Jones
Location: 360 Arbor Drive, near Lowe's, in Christiansburg
Phone: 381-2208
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday.
Fees: From $3 to $5.25 daily admission, depending on age. Lower group and contracted group rates.
Service: Three years in the works, the New River Valley's first family entertainment center opened last week.
Its centerpiece is a 1,300-square-foot, 16-foot-high enclosed and padded play unit, which looks like a colorful, high-tech descendant of a playground jungle gym. But the business also features five rooms for private parties, a toddler play area and a restaurant. The center also will offer a teen night on Saturdays, complete with a disc jockey.
The Fun Challenge center is the brainchild of Jane Jones. The daughter of well-known developer Bill Matthews, Jones realized there was a dearth of indoor places to take her children. She and her husband, Chuck, researched indoor playgrounds on the East Coast. Their center is similar to the Discovery Zone Inc. FunCenter that opened in Roanoke County near Tanglewood Mall in late 1994.They came up with a center that combined the favorite aspects from their research, but included more features for smaller children, and a separate toddler area. They also made sure the play equipment is handicapped accessible.
"It's been a long process, but it's really turned out the way we wanted it to," said Chuck Jones.
The 20,000-square-foot Fun Challenge building includes a separate children's clothing store, Once Upon a Child, which opened in the fall.
Fun Challenge will employ 30 people, most part timers, Chuck Jones said. The enterprise is a true family affair. His mother, Loretta Manus, has taken a leave from her job in Pennsylvania to help get the center's restaurant up and running.
And most importantly, the Joneses' two children, Morgan, 4, and Mallory, 2, have "fun-tested" the new equipment.
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Chuck Jones.by CNB