OXFORD — As outdoor summer fun draws to a close, children in Western Maine will soon be bouncing off the walls, at least that’s what Travis and Christine Landes are hoping as they prepare to open Lil’ Leapin’ Lizard Family Adventure Center in Oxford the first week of October.

The new 9,600-square foot indoor amusement facility is an expansion of the inflatables rental business the couple began in Florida four years ago and ran part time from their home. Travis was stationed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville when he and his wife drove past an indoor inflatables entertainment facility and found inspiration for their business. They purchased their first bouncy, never suspecting they would enjoy the business as much as they did.

“It’s a lot of fun seeing the faces on the kids. Their eyes get big like saucers whenever they see the inflatables popping up,” Travis Landes said.

When he retired from the Navy in 2012, Travis and his family moved to his wife’s home state of Maine and brought their portable business with them. They lived in the Bangor area for a time, but last November the town of Bethel hired Christine as town manager, bringing the couple and their two sons to western Maine.

“As we were driving around the area, we realized there wasn’t anything for the kids to do, especially the teens,” Travis Landes said.

The Landeses always wanted to re-create what originally led them to the inflatables business in Florida and so, thinking this might be the perfect time, they began searching for a building large enough to host their dream. They found it in a 60-by-160-foot warehouse-style building at 17 Madison Dr. in Oxford, across the street from the back of the South Campus of Oxford Hills Middle School.

“We’re just lucky it was available,” Travis Landes said. “When we first looked at the building, we didn’t realize it was across from the middle school.”

The location worked out even better than he hoped.

“We’re going to make the facility available for any organization to use at a group rate. … Day cares, summer camps, schools … we think they’ll take advantage of it since this will be the only facility of its kind in western Maine.”

The large, brown, rectangular building may not look like much from the outside, Landes said, but once a person walks in, he expects to wow them with colors and sounds.

“We want to make it a bonanza for the eyes,” he said. “There will be no lack of fun from wall to wall.”

There’s a flurry of construction activity as the family prepares for a big final push to have the facility up and running in time for a grand opening during the first week of October. The building will house a lobby and concessions area, bathrooms, two party rooms, a toddler play area with a ball pit and toddler-specific inflatables, and an area designed to appeal to older children with a 30-foot obstacle course and a wrecking ball activity, among other inflatables.

Landes hopes to attract children from ages 2 to 18, and plans to host teen nights. To help with that effort, he is installing a DJ system and placing arcade games along the exterior walls.

“Our teen nights will be for the 13 and older crowd,” Landes said. “We’d like to provide them a place where they can hang out with their friends, stay off the streets and not get into trouble.”

Although they had hoped to be open a few weeks earlier, Landes said the business is on track to open in early October. His two sons, Dylan, 19, and Connor, 15, will help.

“We can’t wait, it’s going to be fun,” Landes said.

People can follow the progress on the Lil’ Leapin’ Lizard’s Facebook page.

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