Seven attractions at Elevate Trampoline Park in Champaign were cited for safety improvements during one inspection from the Illinois Department of Labor in December last year. 

State inspectors found safety issues at the park’s main court, dodgeball court, kiddie court and volleyball court attractions, according to its inspection report from Dec. 13, 2024. All attractions were given a permit to operate, but some of the attractions were found with broken springs, missing padding and items housed underneath trampolines, among other issues and hazards. 

Elevate Trampoline Park is a national trampoline park brand with locations in ten cities across the U.S., including four in Arizona where it is headquartered and four in Illinois. The parks feature different trampoline attractions such as jousting, dodgeball, rock climbing and more. 

The Elevate managers at the Champaign location referred questions to their director of operations, who did not return multiple requests for comment.

Illinois requires inspections of trampoline parks because of public concern over injuries at them and similar attractions. The latest inspection did not mention any injuries, but injuries associated with trampoline parks typically include broken bones and sprains.

In 2018, more than 300,000 trampoline park-related injuries required medical treatment and over 110,000 of the injuries required a trip to the emergency room, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Between 2009 and 2017, 18,716 children in the United States were injured in trampoline parks according to a study by Pediatrics International.

Reports obtained under the Freedom of Information Act detailed the citations from the seven attractions and safety recommendations from December 2024.

Inspectors found:

• Netting needs to be added at the basketball trampoline courts to the elevated platform so patrons would not use it as a “launch point” to a trampoline. Other netting needed securing at the top of the angled trampoline to fill a void.
• The dodgeball area had a lack of proper safety padding that should be adjusted to eliminate gaps found by the inspector. Padding also needs to be added to the angled walls on both ends of the angle mats.
• Padding needs to be added to walls on both sides of the kiddie court and the netting on top of the kiddie court needs to be secured. 
• The main court needs to replace broken springs, remove springs on the floor underneath, repair holes in two trampolines, cover exposed framing and pad the walls surrounding all the angled mats in the park. 
• Netting needs to be added to both sides of the wall on the single jump trampoline to prevent group gathering within that area. 
• The ceiling above the volleyball court needs repairs to stop water from dripping before further use.
• A hole in the waterfall trampoline needs to be replaced and secured skirting needs to be added to cover exposed springs. Proper signage is also required to inform customers about the depth of the foam pit.

Although the Champaign location opened in 2018, its earliest inspection was in June 2022. All rides were deemed acceptable for patron use at that time. 

Amusement attractions in Illinois such as Elevate are required to have inspections every year after updates to the Amusement Ride and Attraction Safety Act in 2021 adopted by the Illinois Department of Labor were passed to regulate trampoline courts beginning Jan. 1, 2022. Prior to the act, trampoline parks were not inspected by the state. 

“It was brought in as something under our division because there was a general uptick and people were seeing a lot of injuries at trampoline parks,” Brian Fox, carnival division manager for the state labor department said in an interview. “And so it was decided that they needed to be regulated.”

When inspecting trampoline parks, inspectors check materials and attractions under national and state standards. These regulations include having adequate space around equipment, having equipment that is accessible in case of a rescue and having employees that are trained to rescue present when customers are using equipment. 

The inspections are performed yearly by the Illinois Department of Labor to ensure parks are meeting safety standards. For trampoline parks, a third party company must also annually inspect the business, according to the Illinois Administrative Code.

MC Safety Consulting, a safety consulting company based in Rock Island that conducts inspections for amusement rides and devices, was responsible for performing inspections at Elevate Champaign in 2023 and 2024. 

Third party inspectors in November and state inspectors in December recommended Elevate fix or improve the several attractions in order to meet safety and inspection standards. 

It was not clear from the December report if inspectors followed up.

The department has seven inspectors across Illinois that inspect all of the attractions that the department regulates at least once a year. 

When a business like Elevate is cited by the state labor department, each citation can be separated based on priority. In some citations, the department can issue a stop order so that an attraction is no longer in use until a correction is made. In other instances, a corrective action is issued, which means that a business would have a designated timeframe to improve on a citation it received. 

Inspectors can also offer suggestions to improve before the next inspections. If there is no action taken on the suggestions by the next inspection, the citation can move up in severity. 

Last year, an Elevate location in Milan, Illinois received an order for the main trampoline court to be shut down and make corrective repairs from the Illinois Department of Labor Amusement and Ride Safety Division. Despite the March 2024 order, the location remained open, and in May state officials found the main trampoline courts were still in operation despite the stop order. 

Elevate Milan and the state division reached a settlement agreement in November 2024 to address the safety concerns and make changes to other Elevate locations in Peoria and East Peoria. Elevate has said it plans to introduce new safety measures and attractions that cater to customers of all ages.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to work closely with IDOL to make our parks safer, more exciting, and more enjoyable for our visitors,” Liz Wilson, former COO of Elevate, said in a press release. “These new enhancements represent Elevate’s commitment to providing fun and innovative experiences while maintaining rigorous safety standards.”

Before or upon arrival at the trampoline park, customers are required to complete an online waiver where they “give up all legal rights” by signing the agreement. The waiver outlines the assumption of risk associated with participating in activities at Elevate. 

There is no readily available information locally about injuries. Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana was unable to confirm local injury reports.