• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Saturday, April 1, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Opportunities
      • Legals
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Opportunities
      • Legals
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Local dad plans new amusement park—By Dwight Hobbes, Contributing Writer

by MSR News Online
August 17, 2011
33
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

 

From the mouths of babes: Lebron Riley, executive director of Urban Jungle, Inc., recalls, “Back in ’94, ’95, [as] a father [with] a bunch of nieces, nephews and cousins, I used to take the kids to parks all the time on the weekends. Take them to Chucky Cheese, what have you. I was always one to be with the kids and play with them.

“Every time we got done, I’d be so sore. They’d be, like, ‘Why don’t we just make our own park?’ I looked at [them] and said, ‘You know what, maybe we should. My children and I, we sat for a couple of weeks, talked about what we could do, what we could have.”

Subsequent to extensive brainstorming and incorporating input from his kid consultants, Riley utilized Sabathani Community Center’s resources to research and document a plan. By 1997, he had a concrete idea with which to run. It was incorporated in 2000, and he now intends to launch a large-scale undertaking for family entertainment on the order of, say, Nickelodeon Universe (formerly Camp Snoopy). Same thing, only different.

Urban Jungle Amusement Park will be indoor, interactive, family entertainment: “A giant maze about the size of [supermarket]. On different levels. That’s the main attraction of our theme park [in addition to] a roller-skating park, game lounging area, food court, things like that.”

- ADVERTISEMENT -

A salient feature is that Urban Jungle Amusement Park focuses on community, including youth health. “We’ll be running a six-week fitness program throughout the year.” It’s modeled on the White House’s Presidential Fitness Challenge. He adds that, in addition to the matter of generally fitness, “We’re going to help address obesity issues.” Kids earn badges for how well they do and discounts on admission to the amusement park.

Urban Jungle Amusement Park promises not only somewhere for families to have fun, but also a boon to Minneapolis’ economy. In the way of employment, 150 positions to start. As the enterprise thrives, Riley expects staff to increase accordingly. At the outset, the majority of job opportunities are for youngsters, addressing a chronic ill when it comes to why teens are running the streets, constantly recruited by drug dealers offering get-rich-quick schemes to peddle crack and weed.

The target date to announce plans for breaking ground is next year. A prime location under consideration for Urban Jungle Amusement Park is Heritage Park, near Olson Memorial Highway in North Minneapolis, close enough to downtown and within spitting distance of the Twins stadium, to attract citywide traffic.

He is in contact with Richard Copeland, president and owner of Thor Construction, Inc., who owns the property Riley has in mind as “one of the best [options]. The building is sitting there, empty.” Riley adds, “That would be a good way for minority [operators] to continue to work together. Mr. Copeland’s a minority. People say, ‘Oh, Black people can’t work together. You’ll never get nothing like that [off the ground].’ Black folk can’t work together? Yes, we can.”
Lebron Riley isn’t just espousing politically correct platitudes. He came by his commitment to community honestly. On top of the conversation Riley had at the post-Chucky Cheese summit, he used to work as a juvenile corrections officer and saw firsthand the need for at-risk youth to have those risks reduced and curtailed.

Importantly, their reactions to his idea of starting up Urban Jungle Amusement Park left a lasting impression. Toughened adolescents, caught up in the juvenile criminal justice system evidently knew when they saw someone who wasn’t simply about processing them into their next step of ongoing incarceration. In the course of interacting with them, he spoke on the prospect of setting up the Urban Jungle Amusement Park. He recalls that the facades and stolid fronts the youth put up gave way to unguarded, hopeful expressions on the faces of those who asked, “Really? That’d be somethin’. You really gon’ do somethin’ like that?”

- ADVERTISEMENT -

“I still run into some of [them] on the street,” he adds, “and they say, ‘You still workin’ on that part? You not gon’ forget me?’”

The public can pitch in on funding efforts without having to reach into their wallets for a dime. The Urban Jungle Amusement Park project is entered in the Pepsi Refresher competition, which sponsors cash awards for ideas that empower communities. At www.refresheverything.com, you can cast a vote for Urban Jungle Amusement Park as many times as you wish.

Urban Jungle Amusement Park does not discriminate in its objective or appeal. All are welcome. Nonetheless, it offers opportunities to both engage minority youth as entertainment and motivate them to pursue productive employment. And, of course, it gives families the chance to simply go someplace and have a nice time.

Dwight Hobbes welcomes reader responses to dhobbes@spokesman-recorder.com.

- ADVERTISEMENT -
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

HOBBES IN THE HOUSE By Dwight Hobbes—If you’re getting threatened, get out

Next Post

LITTLE BY LITTLE By Matthew Little

MSR News Online

Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.

You Might Also Like

Minneapolis agrees with Department of Human Rights on reining in its police force
Local

Minneapolis agrees with Department of Human Rights on reining in its police force

These tax tips can make filing (1040) EZ
Business

These tax tips can make filing (1040) EZ

Women’s History Month Salute: Tina Burnside
Women's History Month

Women’s History Month Salute: Tina Burnside

Women’s History Month Salute: Coventry Royster Cowens
Women's History Month

Women’s History Month Salute: Coventry Royster Cowens

Women’s History Month Salute: Sha Cage
Women's History Month

Women’s History Month Salute: Sha Cage

Women’s History Month Salute: Stella Whitney-West
Women's History Month

Women’s History Month Salute: Stella Whitney-West

Next Post

LITTLE BY LITTLE By Matthew Little

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

The Latest News

Minneapolis agrees with Department of Human Rights on reining in its police force

Minneapolis agrees with Department of Human Rights on reining in its police force

These tax tips can make filing (1040) EZ

These tax tips can make filing (1040) EZ

Women’s History Month Salute: Tina Burnside

Women’s History Month Salute: Tina Burnside

Women’s History Month Salute: Coventry Royster Cowens

Women’s History Month Salute: Coventry Royster Cowens

Women’s History Month Salute: Sha Cage

Women’s History Month Salute: Sha Cage

Women’s History Month Salute: Stella Whitney-West

Women’s History Month Salute: Stella Whitney-West

Minneapolis
◉
32°
Sunny
6:53 am7:40 pm CDT
SunMonTueWedThu
46/30°F
43/32°F
39/34°F
37/19°F
36/19°F
Weather forecast Minneapolis, Minnesota ▸
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Mar 21
March 21 @ 7:30 pm-May 18 @ 9:00 pm Recurring

Wit by Margaret Edson

Mar 31
March 31 @ 10:00 am-April 8 @ 9:00 pm

Twin Cities Auto Show

Apr 1
April 1 @ 7:00 pm-April 3 @ 9:00 pm Recurring

Lemi Ponifasio: Love to Death (Amor a la muerte)

Apr 1
7:30 pm-9:30 pm

Rising Tide with ENCORE!, See Change Treble Choir, and Voices of Hope

View Calendar

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder