One of the biggest indoor children's play centres in Europe is set to open its doors in Yorkshire after it secured a major investment.
The Playhive will be built at Stockeld Park, near Wetherby, and will include a series of themed and interconnected adventure zones all housed within a doughnut-shaped building with a 33ft tower at its centre.
The play centre will cost £3.5m and will have an internal area of more than 20,000sq ft. The total diameter of the centre will be almost 130ft, while the central circle will span 65ft. Wooden play pieces will be placed around The Playhive and will be themed around the four zones: Space, Aeronautical; Subaquatic, and Jungle.
The Playhive is being launched by Peter and Susie Grant, the owners of Stockeld Park.
Mr Grant said: “The Playhive is a passion project. We didn’t want the usual soft play scene, but one that truly inspires imaginations. There will be some really spectacular features and we’ll be announcing these on the run-up to the opening of the Playhive.”
He added: “During lockdown, we had to close Stockeld Park for significant parts of the year, and when we were allowed to open, Covid restrictions hugely reduced our capacity. The natural reaction would have been to reduce spending, and certainly not take on such a major capital project, but we actually had the idea for The Playhive long before Covid hit.
"The lockdown has just reconfirmed our commitment to the project. Now more than ever, our tourism sector needs to come back fighting, and after the isolation and anxieties of the last year, families desperately need to get away and have some fun. We need this good news story.”
The Grants took out a loan to build the Playhive which will create and safeguard 50 jobs. The new business has capacity for 2,000 visitors per day.
Stockeld Park's tourism business was launched by the Grants in 2006. The park's festive illuminations attracts visitors around Christmas with the aim of increasing retail sales at Nordman Fir Christmas trees,
The initiative grew into the Christmas Adventure, which now features epic winter illuminations in its Enchanted Forest and a giant 8ft Yew tree maze, a 1.2km Nordic Ski Trail and ice-rink, which in normal times attracts over 100,000 visitors every Christmas.
