The Factory, Gadsden

Jim Brown built The Factory in the 1980s. Back then, it was a literal, industrial factory, complete with forklifts, assembly lines, and workers. Jim's son Dan carried on in his father's footsteps, building industrial sites of his own. However, when his dad's first factory space came back on the market, Dan purchased it with an entirely different sort of business in mind. With the help of his daughter (and Jim's granddaughter), Dan revamped the space into a haven for energetic and adventurous kids. Today, it's still a factory, but one that produces fun.

Inside this thriving post-industrial play space, kids of all ages burn off excess energy with the help of safe, fun activities. Under the watchful eye of hulking statues built from reclaimed materials, kids bounce on wall-to-wall trampolines, soaring into foam pits or playing rounds of air dodgeball as they leap. They also play arcade games set beneath geometric neon lights, a retro futuristic touch that adds a touch of whiz-bang energy to each round. On the house laser tag set, youngsters shoot laser beams at invading robot-aliens, fending them like the finest video game warriors or pest control experts from the year 3030.