MILLERTON — Kids Time, Millerton’s longtime indoor play space, has closed for good after more than two decades as a staple of childhood birthdays and family celebrations.
Owner Ken Thompson shut the doors Sunday, Feb. 8, after hosting the final birthday party at the once-bustling Route 44 attraction. The business, which Thompson built and ran largely on his own since opening in 2006, had slowed in recent years and was no longer financially sustainable, he said.
Thompson, who owns the commercial building that also houses Avocado Cafe, Millerton Athletic Club and a beer store, said he explored downsizing and other options before ultimately deciding to close.
“It was never about the money,” Thompson said. “It was about the kids and the joy on their faces — you can’t put a dollar amount on that.”
Families came to Kids Time for birthday parties and open play, drawn to the colorful maze of slides, mats and climbing features Thompson built and maintained himself. Children who visited him knew him simply as “Mr. Ken,” and he was rarely without small rituals — including a basket of lollipops offered to kids on their way out.
A view through a porthole on the custom-made jungle gym that Ken Thompson built for his business, Kids Time. Thompson shuttered the business after 20 years on Sunday, Feb. 8, after hosting one last party.Photo by Aly Morrissey
For some families, the final party marked a generational full-circle moment.
“I brought my kids here when it was in the bigger space, and now they are grown up and have been bringing their own kids,” said Tilly Strauss, who celebrated her grandchild’s first birthday at Kids Time on Sunday. “We’re really going to miss this place.”
For Thompson, those generational moments reflected the persistence and determination that defined both his business and his own life.
The fastest way to get Thompson to do something, he said, is to tell him he can’t — a stubborn streak that once pushed him to buy his own bicycle at age nine and later to hand-build and run Kids Time as a one-man operation for more than 20 years.
A mechanic by trade, Thompson said he never imagined the turn his life would take when he purchased the large commercial building on Route 44. At the time, he learned it was the only property in Millerton zoned for children’s recreation — a detail he overheard at a town meeting.
“I thought, ‘What kind of person would I be if I had a space for kids and didn’t give back to local families with children,’” Thompson recalled.
He waited more than a year for approvals before letting his imagination take over. Thompson spent months transforming the industrial space into an indoor world designed for children to jump, bounce, climb and slide.
Even in the earliest stages, he involved kids in the process. Thompson ran a logo design contest in his daughter’s fourth-grade classroom and said he was thrilled when one student incorporated a clock — an image that became the Kids Time logo for the next 20 years.
“It was brilliant,” Thompson said. “I had never thought of that before.”
Ken Thompson, center, emerges from a red slide at his kid's party and play business in Millerton. Thompson intends to donate the red slide to the Village of Millerton to use in the playground at Eddie Collins Memorial Park on North Elm Street.Photo by Aly Morrissey
After more than a year of sourcing play equipment, painting, repairing ceiling tiles and doing the physically demanding work himself, Thompson finally opened the doors to Kids Time in the spring of 2006.
“It was a complete dud,” he said, laughing.
His business partner at the time decided to leave and move back to Arizona, Thompson said, leaving him to buy out the business and run it alone. Then, almost unexpectedly, families began to show up.
At its peak, Thompson said he was booking as many as six birthday parties a day — all of which he ran himself.
“My pockets were stuffed with cash,” he recalled.
Kids Time operated for years as a weekend destination for local families until the COVID-19 pandemic upended normal operations. Thompson survived the shutdowns and later downsized to a smaller space — a move he handled on his own — but the business never fully returned to what it once was.
Still, Thompson said he will always look back on Kids Time — which he called “the best job in the world” — with pride and fondness.
“It was a life-changing experience,” he said. “I wish I could keep it going.”
Thompson’s daughter, KT, thanked her father publicly for the space he created.
“Thank you for building me the coolest place in the world, for being the best dad anyone could ask for and for leaving a lasting mark on all of us through your kindness, dedication and joy,” she said.
As the final birthday party wound down Sunday afternoon, Thompson invited guests to take pieces of Kids Time home — climbing mats of all shapes, colors and sizes — free of charge.
“I’m just happy they’ll have a new home,” Thompson said, visibly moved by the idea that pieces of Kids Time would continue to bring joy and play to children elsewhere.
Thompson has also offered Kids Time’s iconic red slide to the Village of Millerton and hopes it can be incorporated into the playground at Eddie Collins Memorial Park.
Dutchess County Emergency Medical Services Commissioner William Beale addresses the County Legislature's Public Safety Committee during a meeting in Poughkeepsie on Wednesday, March 4.
In North East, ambulances reached Priority 1 calls within the nine-minute benchmark only half of the time, while in Amenia the rate dropped to 33%.
County-wide, ambulances reached those life-threatening calls within nine minutes 69% of the time.
In Pine Plains, ambulances took an average of nearly 13 minutes to arrive, and only 29% of critical calls were reached within nine minutes.
The response time data includes both municipal ambulance services that towns contract for — such as North East’s current contract with Empress, which will climb from $511,558 to $696,345 this year, a 36.1% increase — and the county’s supplemental EMS program, which adds ambulances, fly cars and technology to fill gaps in coverage.
But the data suggests rural communities in northeastern Dutchess received little direct support from those supplemental services. North East received just one supplemental EMS dispatch during the entire year, while Pine Plains and Milan each received 13, Amenia received eight, and Stanford and Millbrook each received fewer than 10.
Local legislators and municipal leaders say the numbers highlight an urgent need for short-term collaboration while the county develops a broader, long-term plan to address the region’s EMS challenges.
While the countywide average response time for life-threatening calls is just over eight minutes from dispatch to arrival, northeastern Dutchess towns see significantly longer waits.
The data comes on the heels of last year’s announcement that Empress Emergency Medical Services would absorb Northern Dutchess Paramedics, a move that further consolidates ambulance services in the area under a private provider backed by private equity. Empress EMS is owned by PatientCare EMS, a portfolio company of Grant Avenue Capital LLC, a healthcare-focused private equity firm.
Dutchess County Legislator Eric Alexander (D-25), who chairs the Public Safety Committee, and Vice Chair Chris Drago (D-19) invited Dutchess County Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Response (DER) William H. Beale to speak at last week’s Public Safety Committee meeting.
“We’re increasingly dependent on one provider of EMS,” Alexander said, addressing Commissioner Beale. He shared his concerns that the purchase of NDP by Empress is bordering on a monopoly.
Chris Drago — who represents the towns of North East, Pine Plains, Milan, Red Hook and Clinton — speaks about the struggle to afford quality emergency medical service in the rural area he represents during a meeting of the Dutchess County Legislature's Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, March 4.Photo by Aly Morrissey
“They see the growth of the market, an aging population, and I think they also see the opportunity to demand premium pricing and to defend it over the long term,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe private companies think counties or towns will push back.
“The service is quickly growing beyond what is affordable,” Alexander added, pointing specifically to the Town of North East, which is expected to pay around $700,000 next year for its existing contract with Empress — one that was transferred from NDP.
Alexander and Drago asked Beale to address the state of EMS in the county and what the $4 million supplemental services program has achieved after two years.
Beale, who was appointed in August 2025, outlined his department’s efforts to date and shared next steps, acknowledging that residents in the northeastern parts of the county have seen limited support from supplemental services.
“It’s a multipronged approach,” Beale said of the county’s current efforts to improve EMS countywide. He said the Department of Emergency Response has expanded regional collaboration meetings with town officials and first responders, while also working to continue tracking and transparently sharing data across the county.
Beale pointed to workforce development efforts aimed at addressing a shortage of emergency responders, including initiatives to streamline EMT and paramedic certification.
The next step, he said, is preparing for a comprehensive countywide EMS plan now required by the state. Under legislation passed by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year, counties must develop detailed EMS plans, while municipalities will also be expected to evaluate and plan for their own emergency response plans.
In an email to local municipal leaders, Town of Milan Supervisor Bill Jeffway said the region “needs to address immediate, short-term EMS needs as we all work with the County and State on longer-term solutions.”
Jeffway said an ad-hoc committee, advised by Dutchess County Legislator Chris Drago, was formed to support EMS services. The group will host a region-wide meeting to brainstorm ways small towns and villages can collaborate on short-term solutions.
The purpose of the meeting will be to hear from Jonathan Washko, Assistant Vice President Emergency Medical Services for Northwell Health — a company that some local leaders are hopeful could serve as a stop-gap option in the region. Washko, considered to be a leading industry expert, is expected to share what Northwell can offer locally.
Commissioner Beale said he and his team have met with Northwell Health recently and he is hopeful that Northwell’s ambulances and EMTs can be onboarded into the county’s existing dispatch.
“If they have units available in northern Dutchess County at Northern Dutchess Hospital, or if they have units available at Sharon Hospital, they could potentially serve northeastern Dutchess County,” Beale said. “It may take some time, but we will be moving forward on developing that plan very quickly.”
Beale also said that Northwell Health does not contract with specific municipalities, which could be a welcome change from other private companies like Empress.
Legislator Drago said he is advocating for a pilot program in northern Dutchess County and will be attending the upcoming meeting with local municipal leaders.
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