Boys and girls and their toys

Real-life tourism experiences that are the rage in Florida, from zooming like a race car driver in Daytona to going gravity-free like an astronaut in Cape Canaveral, are about to face some competition: Soon people will be able to come to Bradenton to operate heavy construction equipment for a day.

The concept is called People at Play. It's the work of Jason and Alisa Bennett, the names behind Bennett Contracting, a $3.5 million Bradenton-based firm that specializes in site work. “Obviously, being in construction, we are looking for new revenue streams,” says Alisa Bennett. “We've made it through [the recession] but it has been a struggle.”

The Bennetts hope People at Play will be that source of revenue. The concept is to offer three types of construction experiences. All the packages include a safety course, a commemorative photo and a keepsake hard hat.

The basic package, the operator, includes the use of a CAT 315 Track Excavator for up to 90 minutes. The foreman package includes the excavator and adds a skid steel loader on an obstacle course. And the superintendent experience includes the previous packages, plus time on a CAT bulldozer — and a boxed lunch.

The operator costs $235 per person, the foreman package costs $425 and the superintendent costs $795. In the early going, People at Play will be open Thursdays-Saturdays and by appointments. The experiences can also be bought in group packages.

Bennett, a public relations executive for the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, before she joined her husband's firm, says she and Jason Bennett came up with the idea for People at Play three years ago. The firm had just finished a job and invited the employees of the engineering company it had worked with on the project to come over. For something fun to do, the Bennetts let the firm's employees tool around on some of the equipment — including a 65-year-old grandmother.

“These people had the time of their lives,” says Bennett. “They went absolutely nuts.”

The idea stayed dormant for a few years, while the Bennetts raised their two young children and navigated the recession. But they brought it back to life a few months ago and now plan to open People at Play Dec. 1. Says Bennett: “We want to take construction and weld it into a great experience.”