Otherworld Opens In Northeast Philadelphia
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Aug 5, 2023
Otherworld is open in Philadelphia. It’s on the site of the old Forman Mills store on Grant Avenue near Blue Grass Road. It’s not a store it’s not a museum, it can best be described as a playground that adults and children can enjoy. When you walk in, you are walking through a maze of different exhibits that will transport you to someplace else.
Once inside, you can go into a spaceship, or see strange aliens. Maybe something like the Haunted Forest from the Wizard of Oz or just fountains with different colored water. It’s all there.
You walk through, crawl through and climb the different exhibits. There is a rope netting sphere that took about a week to make You climb in and then climb up. If you are a child it’s easy to shimmy up and get to the top. As an adult it’s difficult. Your weight pulls the netting down, requiring you to pull yourself up to the next level, You do this by flipping yourself over and going up like a corkscrew.
One room is a live game similar to Asteroids. In another room you can simulate flying a spaceship. It’s all done with lighting and mirrors. The grand opening was Friday, with a media preview the night before. According to Jordon Ronda, CEO of Otherworld there is no time limit to spend inside. “It will take about 90 minutes to walk through during non peak times, to experience everything. If you intend on doing the puzzles with the exhibits will will take several hours”, he said.
Otherworld was formed in Columbus Ohio and this location was found. Ronda said it took years to bring this place around. As previously stated, it was a Forman Mills, which was mostly racks of clothes so with the building empty, there was not a lot of demolition to do. There were buildings of walls and the installation of lights. The high ceilings are paramount to this . Construction of the interior was meticulous and Ronda said they are always adding things.
Other World is closed on Tuesdays for cleaning and maintenance. There will be a snack stand and a souvenir shop is already inside. For more information, or to buy tickets go here