There’s a new indoor playground for infants to eight-year-olds in Del Ray.
Bluemont Local opened Sunday at 376A Calvert Avenue. From 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., parents and kids are asked to take off their shoes and have fun in the “soft play” landscape crafted with Scottish pine from UK-based Tigerplay.
The playground took Del Ray husband-and-wife team Sean Walsh and Angelica Gomez two years to develop. The couple, both clinical psychologists, said they found a higher calling to open the playground after Gomez underwent extensive treatment for breast cancer.
Now with the playground built, the couple still finds it surreal that it is open for business.
“We thought, ‘Let’s dream big,'” Gomez told ALXnow. “What can stop us? The cool part was on Tuesday — just after we opened — a large group of families from the Beverley Hills area connected and came in for a play-date. It was so beautiful that they came in and captured the spirit.”
Interior renovations started in March. The playground is designed to hold 300-pound adults, but is intended for kids to learn and explore without their parents.
“The whole part of the structure needs to help kids work with their minds and bodies,” Gomez said. “There are areas where the kids need to crawl … and that’s very important, because it’s good for muscle work and can help kids with their speech.”
Bluemont Local will soon offer music, art and dance classes. Membership plans are in the works, with current rates set at $22 for two hours of play and $18 for additional children.
“We really want parents to engage with their kids, and play and participate with the classes,” Walsh said. “As psychologists, we’re really focused on attachment theory and the relationship between parents and children, and so what we wanted to do is to create a space that could facilitate that.”
The name “Bluemont Local” was inspired by the area’s rail heritage. The Bluemont Line ran produce, dairy, mail and passengers through the area between Loudoun County, Alexandria and D.C. from 1847 to 1912, according to the city.
Depending on how the playground does, Gomez and Walsh said they would like to open other locations, keeping only the “Local” part of the name.
Gomez and Walsh, who are Catholic, thanked God for helping make their dream a reality.
“I get so grateful with God to give us the opportunity to do this,” Gomez said. “I’m so humbled that he chose us to do this, because this is all from him. It’s true. We went through so many hoops, and we just trusted it was gonna happen, and actually, it came. It looks better than we ever thought it could.”
Walsh and Gomez are hiring, and said that updates to the business will be posted on their website and Instagram page.
