City About to Go Ape
By Robin Vinci at September 25, 2023 | 6:15 am | Print
A new high ropes aerial adventure course at AW Stanley Park may be coming to New Britain soon.
Go Ape LLC is hoping to enter an agreement to run the course for 10 years paying the City $20,000 a year. The amount could increase depending on gross revenue.
“I’m really excited about this,” said Mayor Erin Stewart. “Bill DeMaio (parks and recreation director) found them through the statewide department of parks and recreation directors. He got in touch with them. It has had such success in other areas.”
Stewart said in other towns across the country tourism levels have increased because people across the country and state go there to take part in the adventure.
“Towns can literally be transformed because so many kids and corporations use it,” she said. “We sent parks and recreation staff to go and check it out and they were really, really impressed. It will be a good tourism tool.”
The plan was set to go into place on Oct. 1, but the Town Council Wednesday tabled the project in order to hear from the company at its next meeting.
According to the contract, Go Ape will construct and break down the course with the highest priority being the protection of the natural features of AW Stanley Park while providing visitors with access and educational opportunities that are compatible with common resource protection goals. Go ape currently has courses all across the country and world with all reference checks stating a very positive relationship with the vendor with minimal disruption to the natural habitat.
It will go from tree top to tree top with very little environmental impact and the City believes this adventure course will bring tourism to the City of New Britain from all over the State of Connecticut and New England.
“They are really big on preserving the environment so everything they do is around the natural habitat,” said Stewart. “It is all custom built so they are not tearing anything down.”
According to the company website, “A Go Ape Treetop Adventure Course is an outdoor experience that provides participants 2-3 hours of outdoor fun and exercise. The result is spectacular. The course allows participants to explore the park from an otherwise unobtainable vantage point while navigating through the treetops using zip lines, obstacles and tarzan swings.
We start by equipping participants with harnesses, pulleys and carabiners, give them a 30 minute safety briefing and training and let them loose into the forest canopy, free to fly on zip lines, swing through the trees, and observe the surroundings. Of course, instructors are always on hand, regularly patrolling the forests. The Go Ape Treetop Adventure course gets the adrenalin pumping, gets people out of their comfort zones and above all, it’s a great outdoor activity for families, friends and groups.
All participants should know that by going to Go Ape they are also contributing to the health, finance, and well being of the parks as Go Ape provides a portion of our proceeds and stewardship services back to the parks we call home.”
Go Ape’s mission is to encourage everyone to live life adventurously while treading lightly in the most beautiful places and spaces in the US.
“We are indebted to our guests as we recognize that without them there is no Go Ape. So, we always aim to provide a tree-mendous guest experience,” said the website.” A love of the outdoors and our desire to share that passion demands that we take care of our little corner of the forest. From donating our time and resources to local community and environmental groups to providing a unique view from the treetops, we strive to be socially and environmentally responsible. All of Go Ape’s US courses are located in public parks and giving back to the parks and community is a significant aspect of our values. We can continue to list all that we hold dear, but what drives us is simple – to do the right thing.”
