LA GRANDE — A cafe lounge that caters to parents with young children in tow is currently under construction in La Grande.

Perky’s Play Cafe, 1009 Adams Ave., Suite B, sits in the former home of Joe Beans Coffee. Co-owners Jordan Klebaum and her husband, Jacob Johnston, are planning to hold a soft opening July 20 and a grand opening in August.

“Perky’s Play Cafe is going to be an indoor play cafe serving gourmet coffee and a bakery with an indoor playground area for the kids,” Klebaum said.

Parents can come in, meet up with friends or read a book and enjoy a cozy lounge while keeping an eye on their children playing nearby. There will be indoor play structures for gross motor play and fine motor play — it’ll be a kid-proof cafe where parents don’t have to worry about their little ones breaking things or hurting themselves.

“We will not be supervising the kids,” Klebaum said. “Parents are 100% responsible for the supervision of their kids.”

There are seating areas within the playground area, so parents can be close by to supervise their children as they sip their coffee.

Klebaum and Johnston purchased playground equipment from Cedar Works in Maine. The manufacturer specializes in indoor residential and commercial play equipment. The play structure comes in a cedar-pine finish and is safe for kids to slide on.

“There will be a couple of slides in there, along with monkey bars, a fireman’s pole, a rock feature and some fun cubbies that kids can make into forts and use their imagination to play on,” Klebaum said.

The custom play structure will arrive unassembled to Perky’s Play Cafe, and Klebaum and Johnston will construct the playground to fit their store space.

“We will post a picture of it on Instagram and our Facebook page when we get it together,” she said.

In addition to the playground equipment, the remodeling work includes putting in new flooring, removing some walls and repainting.

Although this is Klebaum’s first experience opening a brick-and-mortar retail store, she is no stranger to young children.

“I was an educator for seven years right out of college,” she said. “I left teaching in Union at the end of 2023 to stay home with my two girls, Berklee, 3, and Parker, 2. They were the inspiration for our business name, Perky’s.”

Klebaum has always dreamed of creating a place where parents can bring their kids to hang out and where she could have her children with her and not send them to day care.

The entire building is 3,000 square feet and it is composed of two spaces adjacent to each other. The right side is the cafe area and it’s about 1,000 square feet. On the left side is a long rectangular area about 2,000 square feet. About 200-300 square feet of that is cafe seating and there will be a dividing wall with a safety gate so kids can’t get out without a parent’s help. Then the entire back area will be the play area.

On the cafe’s right side will be a comfy couch and some chairs. There will also be several different areas such as a quiet sensory area, a reading nook and a breastfeeding area for moms.

“You won’t be able to go on the left side unless you have a kiddo with you, just for safety reasons,” Klebaum said.

Perky’s Play Cafe just bought an espresso machine and will be offering custom-brewed coffee made by Al MacLeod, former co-owner of Joe Beans.

Klebaum’s sister, Sydney, an experienced barista, will be an employee at Perky’s Play Cafe. Sydney Klebaum has created a simple menu, including coffee, muffins, cookies, cakes and kids’ snacks. The menu is posted online at perkysplaycafe.com/cafemenu.

“When we first open, we won’t have breakfast or lunch sandwiches or things like that,” Jordan Klebaum said.

Perky’s Play Cafe will also host weeknight classes and activities that parents can sign their kids up for. Look for the event calendar posted on the cafe’s website for those announcements. In addition, the cafe may be rented out from noon on for parties. The price list is posted on the website.

“We are really excited to meet members of our community and host a great place for young kids and parents to come and thrive together,” Klebaum said.