Kit Carson Park already has a playground, and soon it will have quite a swing set.

David Ayers is preparing to move the trapeze school he operates in his backyard to the Escondido park, where it will be run as part of the city's recreation division.

Ayers said the nonprofit he is creating to help run the school will be called Circus Fund, with the emphasis on the first three letters of the second word -- "fun."

Ayers opened Trapeze High in Leucadia in 2002, and since 2006 he has operated the school from the backyard of his Escondido house, which is off a rough, unmaintained road in Escondido. The out-of-the-way location has been a blessing for its solitude, but it also has kept the school well under the radar of many potential students.

"People in Escondido don't even know about us," he said. "If I was in Kit Carson Park, I figured more people could see me, and more kids would learn about trapeze."

Ayers said the trapeze at his house attracts mostly adults, and he thinks he could teach more children if his school were in a location where they could happen by it. With more children learning trapeze skills, Ayers envisions youth circuses soon cropping up in Southern California.

There is no age limit to learn the trapeze. Ayers first stepped on a trapeze at 47, when he was taught by a 62-year-old man. That was 15 years ago, and he's still flying on his trapeze every day.

"I think it's the most fun sport, ever," he said about what hooked him.

Ayers estimates he has taught thousands of students over the years, although only about 50 of them have learned to truly "fly" on a trapeze.

"You don't have to be good to have fun," he said.

Some former students, such as Vista resident Tom Peterson, 33, have taken their skills to the next level and turned pro. On Mondays and Tuesdays, he performs in an acrobatic show at Legoland, and last year he helped train performers at SeaWorld.

He first visited Ayers' school six years ago after deciding trapeze would be a fun thing to do with his brother, who was visiting from out of town.

"I was scared," Peterson said. "I was afraid to climb the ladder."

Peterson said he was not physically fit and did no sports, and so was pretty bad on his first day. He said muscles he never knew he had ached until the next day, but noted that he still had fun. Within six months he was helping to teach other students.

"Who doesn't want to be an acrobat when growing up and join the circus?" he said.

The Escondido City Council on June 24 approved Ayers' request for a 15,000-square-foot space behind the soccer arena in the sports center next to Fire Station No. 4 at Kit Carson Park.

Only one resident at the meeting expressed a concern about having the school at the park, said Robin Bettin, assistant director of community services. That speaker was worried that the trapeze would be such a startling sight to motorists that cars would slow down, so the city has asked Ayers to plant bushes around it as a visual shield.

According to his agreement with the city, Ayers will rent the park property for $4,500 a year, and the city's recreation division will receive 40 percent of his registration fees. At Trapeze High, Ayers charges $45 for 90-minute classes and $135 a month for membership in the Trapeze High Club, allowing unlimited use. He is not sure how much he'll charge for Circus Fund classes, but said the fee may be higher because of the greater cost at Kit Carson Park.

Ayers said he will keep his trapeze at home for club members and move the school to the park, where classes will be held every day except Monday. He's not sure when he will make the move, but would like to work with local schools and offer trapeze lessons as incentives for student achievements.

He also plans to open another school in the Hot Shotz Sports Center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, where he held popular trapeze demonstrations during the San Diego County Fair this year.

Ayers operates the only trapeze school in the county. He said he knows of three in Los Angeles, three in the Bay Area, one in Phoenix and one at Lake Tahoe.

"The thing you hear most frequently is, 'I've always wanted to fly on a trapeze, but I never had a chance,'" he said about the demand for more classes.

Visit trapezehigh.com or call 619-318-0833.

Call staff writer Gary Warth at 760-740-5410.