The rock climbing gym in Wausau you didn't know was in the works
And if all goes according to plan, it will be right by the Wausau Whitewater kayak course downtown.
You probably didn’t know this was in the works, but if all goes well, Wausau could soon have its own climbing gym.
Which means Wausau would have the only dedicated climbing gym in central Wisconsin.
UW-Stevens Point has a climbing wall in its Berg Gym, which is open to students and members of the public with limited days and hours. And the Greenheck-Turner Community Building has a small climbing wall with open climbing events.
Otherwise the closest dedicated gym, with top rope, auto-belay and bouldering areas, is roughly 100 miles away in Appleton.
But if Teah Koval and her partner, Steve Arnold, have their way, in the near future there will be a dedicated climbing gym along the Wisconsin River, where the county’s parks and planning and zoning offices once were. Arnold brings decades of experience in renovation, construction and property management to the project.
Possibly key to making it work one day is that it won’t just be an indoor climbing wall. Koval and company plan to make it much more than that, bringing in additional revenue sources to make sure the ambitious project works.
“Because we’re not a big city that can just open a commercial-style gym, it’s got to have character. It’s got to have personality, and there have to be multiple touch points with different communities,” Koval said.
Koval sat down recently with The Wausonian to give us the full scoop.
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The climbing vision
Koval and Arnold are planning much more than a climbing gym with New Heights Climbing and Fitness. But that will be the central focus, including 10-20 auto-belays (ropes attached to devices that allow you to climb and that slowly lower you down if you fall off the wall), top rope areas (which require a person to belay you or essentially manage the rope, plus lead climbing (using clips along the route) and bouldering areas (shorter climbs without ropes).
Arnold will be setting the climbing routes, something he’s had plenty of experience with. He plans to ensure that there are a variety of route types, from beginner to expert, so everyone can enjoy the gym at different levels.
But the goal is to make it a one-stop fitness area for outdoors enthusiasts, with a 24-hour fitness center centered on strength and functional fitness (no giant screens and blaring music, for example), a sauna, and dedicated kids’ areas. Children’s programming will include the option for birthday parties, as well as summer camps.
Koval said of all the gyms she and Arnold visited, the successful ones focused on children’s climbing summer camps.
They’re also planning to have studio space for yoga, Pilates and other mobility and fitness classes. A co-working space would also be part of the facility
Climbing origins
Koval, who is also a real estate agent, first became interested in climbing in her 20s, but when she met a friend who lead climbed in Upper Michigan, she really got into the sport.
Her involvement in the sport deepened after she met Arnold, who had already been climbing for more than 25 years and favored outdoor climbing. Arnold has also worked in renovation, construction and property management for decades and now focuses more heavily on renovation and creative work. He and Koval expect to handle much of the project’s interior design and some of the interior renovation themselves.
They are also working with architect Chris Ryan, who specializes in climbing facilities and the design of “third places” — gathering spaces outside home and work that help build community. Koval said Ryan will accompany them as they develop the project.
Koval always envisioned Wausau as an ideal place for a climbing gym. And after a climbing trip in Arizona, she said Arnold decided he would either need to dedicate himself to climbing fully or give up the sport. They decided to go all in on the sport. Shortly thereafter someone suggested she open a climbing gym.
“It was more of a ‘challenge accepted’ moment,” Koval told The Wausonian. “It was something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time, and when the opportunity started to become visible, you’ve got to seize it.”
The building goal
I expressed a little surprise when Koval told me the plan was to build the gym along the Wisconsin River where county offices current sit empty. That places it along the Wausau Whitewater kayak course, which Koval sees as an advantage.
“I think it would be an excellent opportunity to collaborate with the whitewater community down there,” Koval said, adding that the location could support other partnerships with the broader community.
The plan would be to use some of the existing buildings for some of the non-climbing activities and constructing a large building to house the climbing itself.
All that would come with no small price tag. Koval estimates the total project could cost upwards of $6 million. At the time of the interview, Koval had started an Indiegogo campaign offering everything from corporate sponsorships to pre-memberships in an effort to help raise funds for the project.
But prior to publication, Koval told The Wausonian that she was moving away from the Indiegogo model and taking donations directly through their website, which allows them greater flexibility. That came after a lot of feedback from users about the platform, Koval said.
One challenge is that the buildings are still owned by Marathon County. The county released a request for proposals for the River Drive properties on April 23, with proposals due July 15. Koval and Arnold plan to submit a proposal, but they could face competition from other developers for the riverfront site.
But the county moved out of the River Drive buildings on the premise that county offices weren’t the best and highest use for that area. The Wausonian wrote about the move last year, including Parks moving to the UWSP-Wausau building.
So the kicker will be to convince county leaders that a climbing gym — something not only Wausau but central Wisconsin currently lacks — is the highest and best use for the property.
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