Imagine That recently opened its doors to the Madison community with its June 6 ribbon-cutting ceremony held by the Madison-Morgan Chamber of Commerce.
The business held its grand opening the following afternoon with several activities for parents and children.
Leanne Howell co-owns Imagine That alongside her husband and is the children’s director at Covenant Park Church in Madison. She credits her director position for helping her establish the new business, which had been a dream of hers “for quite some time.”
“The church built a much bigger facility, and this building came available, so I just thought it was perfect [to house Imagine That],” Howell said. “I told the pastor about this dream of mine when I began this job. And he was like, ‘Go for it.’”
Imagine That’s indoor playrooms feature 12 “buildings” for children, including ones sponsored by local businesses such as Farmview, Main Street Vet, and Morgan Medical Center.
“I started talking to some companies around that went to our church and thought that it would be something that people would be interested in sponsoring,” Howell said. “It was just really neat how the community came together, and that kind of helped us purchase the buildings.”
According to Howell, she and her husband planned to construct the playroom buildings until they found a company in Pittsburgh that constructed the specific products. They flew to the city in October to meet with the company and initiate construction plans.
“We were looking into building these buildings ourselves, and it was just going to be a lot of work,” Howell said. "We had to get an answer about whether we wanted to rent this place. So I said, ‘Let’s just go visit,’ and when we went there, it was just like God’s ways all the way through.”
With Imagine That now open to the public, Howell looks forward to spreading the word about the business’s features. She believes the grand opening was successful in several areas and helped children interact with their parents.
“We look forward to our parents and kids playing, just having a place where they can come and feel like family,” Howell said. “I will say it was really cool to see that they weren’t on their phones, other than taking pictures of their kids, but they were actually playing.”
Howell hopes to host several special events in the near future, including a Parents' Night Out and a Disney Princess event. She has found the idea of birthday parties at the site to be a “huge hit” with the community and has heard from several schools and camps about hosting field trips.
“As the children’s director at Covenant Park Church, one of my favorite things to do is hold events, so I feel like I’m pretty good at putting those things together,” Howell said. “I have so many ideas and am ready to throw them all out there.”