Firms Work on Play Centers : Children: Joint venture between N.J. operator and Irvine’s United Leisure calls for first one to open in South County.

A New Jersey company that operates martial arts training centers said Monday it has a pact with the former operator of the Lion Country Safari theme park in Orange County to start a chain of children’s play and learning centers.

The joint venture between Master Glazier Karate International Inc. of Elizabeth, N.J., and United Leisure Corp. in Irvine will result in opening of two centers in Orange County within six months, followed by others in Southern California and the East.

United Leisure Chairman Harry Shuster would not put a value on the joint venture except to say that millions of dollars will be spent and that United Leisure and Master Glazier will contribute equally. In California, he said, the venture will open its first center in south Orange County, followed by another in north Orange County. Specific sites have not yet been chosen, he said.

Shuster said United Leisure’s move into the children’s play business is prompted by the fact that the company will lose its lease on 300 acres of land owned by the Irvine Co. in 1997. United Leisure subleases to the operators of Irvine Meadows Amphitheater and the Wild Rivers water park on that property.

Losing the lease necessitates finding other lines of business, he said.

On the same site, United Leisure has operated Camp Frazier, a summer day camp for children, since 1982. With 600 campers and 150 employees, that facility is one of the largest of its kind, Shuster said.

The learning centers, he said, will give United Leisure an opportunity to apply the experience it has gained with Camp Frazier.

Play centers are a fast-growing industry. Chicago-based Discovery Zone Inc., one of the leaders, has more than doubled in size in the past two years and now has 215 centers, 21 of which are in California.

The centers generally charge youngsters a flat fee--parents get in free--to use the indoor play equipment and games of skill. Parents can drop off their children if they want, but “we encourage interaction between parents and children,” a Discovery Zone spokesman said.

Shuster said he wants to include computer learning stations in his chain of centers, yet to be named. Each of his centers will likely be in so-called “power center” clusters of discount stores, he said.

Mark Glazier, president of Master Glazier, said, “United Leisure has been successful at entertaining children at its summer camp, and we have demonstrated our ability to teach children discipline and self-confidence through martial arts. . . . Coupled with the meteoric growth of play center facilities, we are confident that our experience in these areas will enable us to establish a strong foothold.”