When you're out trick-or-treating on Halloween, or if you're looking for an alternative activity, visit the Amazing Maze at the Park Street Chapel. The free box maze will be open to kids to explore from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31, at the chapel, located at Park and Spruce streets, Elizabethtown.

Peter Ogilvie has been creating the maze for more than 10 years. He saw an example at a church years ago, and he decided to build his own.

"My kids were very active and rambunctious when they were growing up," he said, of his now-grown five children. "I was a youth leader at the time, and I thought, 'Let's make a box maze,' and I put one up in our church, and the kids loved it."

Over the years, he's become an expert in assembling the maze, which is created out of boxes donated by Turkey Hill Dairy.

"They donate about 100 boxes, all about the same size," said Peter's wife, Sharon Ogilvie. "He connects them all with rivets, and he's really mastered the art of building a box maze. He makes it even more crazy every year. He's put slides in it. He's put towers. There have been years where he's said, 'I don't know if I can do this again, because I'm so tired,' but then he's ready to go again."

It takes Peter about a week to construct the maze, which is located on the upper floor of the chapel. He said he doesn't know for sure when or where inspiration for the design will strike, but he's open to feedback from participants.

"When I hear kids saying, 'This one was easy,' I try to make it less easy the next year," he said. "My kids were good at making it very hard, but then, if it's too hard, kids get stuck in it and they cry, and you don't want that, of course."

The maze is not scary as much as it's adventurous, said Sharon, who noted that the room is dark and only lit by strobe and blue lights. The sound of water dripping in caves provides a spooky ambience.

People who come to the maze can also enjoy free popcorn, apple cider, candy, cookies and more in the chapel. Park Street Chapel does not hold church services, but hosts open prayer every morning from 6 to 7 a.m. Peter, who is a hospice chaplain, serves as chaplain of the chapel as well.

The Amazing Maze offers a way to bring people into the chapel and for the Ogilvies to give back.

"We do this to reach out and bless the community," Sharon explained. "It's something fun for the kids, and we have kids that come back every year. It's a fun time and a nice time to do this, when everybody is out that night in the community."