Dural: Plans for expansion of popular escape room business revealed
New plans have been revealed for a popular escape room business in Galston, which is looking to expand with some quirky themes in the making for their new escape rooms.
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New plans have been revealed about the expansion of a popular escape room business in Galston which started out as a home-run business by a couple of enthusiasts who have completed 176 escape rooms around the world.
Escape rooms have become popular in more recent years as a means of entertainment, offering a simulated game experience to a group who are placed into a room where they must search for clues and solve puzzles to escape.
Elude Escape Rooms offers three escape rooms on its property but after a development application was approved on Tuesday, it’s now looking to open four more rooms.
The proposal includes converting two residential duplexes on the site into a reception area and a kids party room, while existing garages will be converted into other escape rooms, including a wheelchair accessible built room.
A new driveway and a carpark with 23 parking spaces is also set to be built in the future as part of the project.
The owners of Elude Escape Rooms, Julia Billyard and Darren Bonaccordo, said it was “a monumental step” almost a year after submitting the development application.
“We became escape room enthusiasts when we quit our jobs and booked a two-month holiday in Europe,” Mr Bonaccordo said.
“My sister had done an escape room experience with work in the UK and said we should check it out and we became hooked. We did 50 in two months and did one everywhere we stopped off.
“So when we came back home, we started to work on our business in July 2017. It’s like being in your own murder mystery movie or novel. The idea is to immerse people onto a theme so they escape reality for an hour or so.”
Mr Bonaccordo said they often work with corporates as the escape rooms experience can “help highlight team building skills”.
“Our business has brought people down from Newcastle, out west and Canberra but we’ve also provided something for the locals.
“There is little in the way of entertainment in the area at all, and you go in the city and there are probably 70 escape rooms.
“We would love to be able to put Galston on the map. People can make a day of it, there are some great restaurants close by and put golf.”
He said they had already come up with new themes for the new rooms which will be created.
“Room 4 will be called Torquay which will be like a seaside escape room and the fifth room will be named Emma, which will take people back to their childhood.
The owners said their escape rooms are not horror themed and are family friendly for all ages.
He said there was a misconception and people are not locked in, with an emergency button provided.