In the community of Kitimat, a new business known as the Den of Destruction recently opened it’s doors for the first time on June 21st of this year.
And while the name effectively communicates what kind of business it is, owner Michael Williams gave more details on what the Den is used for and where the idea for it came from;
“It’s a physical stress and anxiety relief facility centre, also known as a rage room. What happens here is that people come in, they get to break the items that we have in the rooms with sledgehammers, baseball bats and relive any stress or anxiety they might have or just have fun breaking things. It came together as an inspiration from dealing with day to day stress and anxieties while also understanding that rage rooms are becoming a fad in central major cities. It’s incredibly helpful for mental health as it feels good to actually have a physical release because words don’t always work.”
And to test out it’s services, both myself and CFTK News Director Jaimin Gandhi signed the required waiver, read the rules and suited up for a go in one of the rooms.
While it was an unusual feeling at first, given that people are typically conditioned to respond to things breaking as a bad thing, it was certainly effective at burning off excess energy and it was fun to think of creative ways to smash things.
As for Jaimin, he really appreciated the chance to vent his own frustrations in a healthy way.
Williams also mentioned how the Den features some specialized events as well as another room meant for those wanting to test out their critical thinking skills instead;
“We have Manic Mondays where we double the breakable items. We have Tag It Tuesdays where anybody can come in, kids included, and spray paint whatever they want on the plywood walls with their own spray cans. There’s Friday Night Flings, which is for couples and it’s 50 percent off for them. And there’s the Escape Room, which came because it’s a part of a lot of other rage rooms in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto and around the world. It’s a great team building exercise where everybody can work together to do problem solving and get out of the Escape Room.”
People can request custom themes for their sessions and more information about costs, memberships and rules is available on the Den’s website.