Emily Considine
Waiting for some nice weather to dust off your paintball gun? Well the wait is over! Bloomington features an indoor paintball facility that is open year round. Urban Warfare opened its doors in 2009 and is the only paintball facility in Central Illinois that stays open year round. The facility has over 9,000 square feet of playing room.
Urban Warfare has two separate paintball fields set up for scenario and speedball play. The scenario/urban field consists of four houses, two mulch bunkers, a car, a boat, sandbag bunkers, several 50 gallon barrels and much more.
“I felt like I was outside playing paintball in a real field when I went there! The set up is challenging and life like, I would recommend it to any paintball lovers,” said Normal resident Austin Duffell.
The astroturf covered indoor speedball field is just as large, with paintball bunkers strategically placed to maximize your fun and skillfulness for bunkering your opponent. The Illinois State University paintball team chose this speedball field as their practice field, which speaks volumes about its quality. Safety is Urban Warfare’s top priority and they have gear available to rent if necessary for reasonable prices.
Even those who are just looking to do something different with family and friends have been satisfied. Bloomington resident Mitch Shafer said, “I recently went with three family members to partake in their laser tag that they have in addition to paint balling. I went in thinking this was going to be one of those places that you see in the mall or at amusement parks but was I wrong.”
The cost is $20 an hour for each person. The customer service is also phenomenal, which makes the money that much more worth it. Normal resident Scott Coutts attested to this, saying, “Service was excellent as one of the workers even called ahead of time to ensure we knew the location and confirm we would be attending. After a slight issue in our first match, he said he wouldn’t charge us for that time, which was great of him.”
The capacity for the indoor fields is about 12 people, which is the perfect size if you are wishing to host a party there. Paintball is fun for birthday parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, team building meetings, to list a few. Urban Warfare is open seven days a week, which is convenient for scheduling an event.
Don’t wait for the warm weather to get here. Take advantage of Urban Warfare’s indoor facilities! Urban Warfare is not far from Avanti’s on Empire Street—about 15 minutes from campus. Their hours are Monday-Friday 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. by appointment and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. open play. Contact them at 309-261-2596 for more information or to schedule yourself some game time.