One of the theme play areas inside Zaaz Eatery and Play. (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

Red Bridge Fire Fallout

Facing closure related to Red Bridge loss, local children’s play facility seeks alternative location

Feb 21, 2025 | 5:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — Since the Red Bridge burned down in the fall of last year, several businesses in the Mount Paul Industrial Park say it’s resulted in a noticeable change in customer flow.

Many businesses are destination stops and haven’t been as harshly affected, but others that rely on convenience customers stopping in on their way through the area have taken a hit.

Zaaz Eatery and Play is a 7,500-square-foot indoor play facility with a restaurant, gift shop and part-time daycare. The business hosts hundreds of children and families each week and has utilized the convenience of being easy to access. But that changed without the Red Bridge connecting the business from the Mount Paul Industrial Park on the Tk’emlups reserve to the south shore of Kamloops.

“When the Red Bridge burned down in September, directly the next day all of our sales went down 30 per cent,” explains Zaaz founder Samantha O’Callaghan. “It hasn’t moved since. It’s been direct 30 per cent across the board since the day after it had burned down. And being a small business, we just didn’t have the 30 per cent to be able to lose.”

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Zaaz has been operating out of its current location for nearly three years but the owners realized they wouldn’t be able to withstand the time it will take to see a new bridge built and decided to close by the end of March.

“Right away, we knew it would be a problem because even with our employees, their 15 minutes to get to work was suddenly an hour to get to work,” explains O’Callaghan. “A lot of our business in the summer… we were so close to Riverside Park, so when it suddenly rains or it’s too hot, or if people were looking to get food, we were just five minutes away. Now, we’re 25 minutes away. And then also all of our delivery services went up 20 minutes for people to be able to get their food on delivery apps, as well.”

However, shortly after announcing her decision to shut the doors, O’Callaghan was inundated with offers to help her make a go of it in a new location. O’Callaghan points out that tearing down the structures, moving, getting into a new lease agreement and rebuilding the play area does come with a steep cost.

“We started a GoFundMe and we are 25 per cent of the way to our goal with that, so we’re just kind of hoping we can get the startup costs to be able to start new downtown,” she says.

If enough funds are collected, then the plan is to move out, rebuild the extensive play structures and re-open later this year. O’Callaghan says what was an impending closure as a result of the unexpected loss of a main transportation route has now become an unexpected pivot.

“It means a ton to all of our family, but I don’t think we realized how much it mean to the entire Kamloops community,” adds O’Callaghan.