Climb Nittany in Boalsburg closed its doors on Sunday after five years in business, but a determined and growing group of community members have been working swiftly to try to bring it back.
Save Climb Nittany has raised $1.9 million in less than a month since owner 5.Life, which leased the property at 328 Discovery Drive, announced it would be closing the indoor climbing gym at the end of May. Organizers believe that may be enough to purchase the business for $400,000 and the real estate on which it resides for $1.5 million, said Eric Chase, who has helped lead the Save Climb Nittany effort.
“During the initial push for funding, over 70 community members stepped up in the first week with potential commitments of over $1.5 million,” Chase told StateCollege.com. “Since then an anonymous family in the community has committed to purchase the real estate and a separate small group of community members committed to purchase the interior equipment and business operations.”
When the closure was announced, a statement from 5.Life said that occupancy costs for the gym had become unsustainable and that the company had exhausted all options to continue operating. CEO Mardi Roberts told the Centre County Gazette that COVID-era construction delays and cost increases for developing Climb Nittany pushed the project well over budget, and that the gym’s rent rate has been tied to those costs.
Property owner Store Master Funding XIV LLC has received an offer from a buyer who would repurpose the building for something other than a climbing gym. But Save Climb Nittany is “cautiously optimistic” about its offer, Chase said.
The group’s business team was working to finalize letters of intent this week.
“We are not clear on the status of the other offer, but time is of the essence,” Chase said. “We are hopeful that our community supported offers will be accepted ahead of any other offers that may have been received or may be received.”
A group of Save Climb Nittany members are also working on determining the ownership structure if the effort is successful. Chase added that the reopened gym would maintain as much of the Climb Nittany staff as possible.
The fast moving initiative to save a beloved space is a testament to the community that grew around Climb Nittany since it opened in late 2020. More than 350 people and counting have signed up for the Save Climb Nittany mailing list and more than 30 are working on various volunteer committees and business development.
The 12,000-square-foot gym with 10,000 square feet of bouldering and rope climbing has offered classes, clubs and social opportunities for everyone from youth to college students to older adults.
Abigail Voigt, a 14-year-old State College Area student and climber at Climb Nittany, said it was a “sacred home for hundreds of local youth.”
“The loss of this space leaves a massive hole in our community, as there will be no other climbing gyms in the area,” Voigt said in May. “Our community is strong, dedicated and growing, and we are looking for someone with the vision to keep climbing alive here—whether that means finding a way to keep this facility open or starting something new for our team.”
Chase and his wife, Kim, are the parents of a Climb Nittany youth and got involved with the effort to save the gym because they see it “as a valuable community resource.”
“The effort really started when we started talking with other parents and members about what we could do to save this incredible community that had been built through the gym,” Chase said. “It started with a simple Google group and our mailing list has grown to over 350 people and we are continuing to get the word out.”
Josh Tinklepaugh, Climb Nittany’s facilities manager, was with the gym since it opened and plans to be part of the revived space if it comes to fruition.
He has seen how the facility became about more than climbing. In fact, he said, when you ask members what their favorite thing about Climb Nittany is, their first answer typically isn’t about the act of climbing.
“They talk about the feeling they get when they come in or the space that they can exist in without worrying about anyone else’s perspectives, because that doesn’t exist there,” Tinklepaugh said. “There is no judgment there. There is no exclusion there. The only exclusion happens when you are not understanding of someone else. And even then it’s not an exclusion; it’s a teaching moment.
“And I think it’s just a really lovely third space that allows people to not only explore physically with their body and learn things they might not have thought they could ever do, but it also allows them to challenge themselves socially, because it’s going to be really hard to not make friends with someone when you’re in that kind of space. So it’s very special for a lot of people.”
It’s been an emotional roller coaster for Tinklepaugh since he learned Climb Nittany would be closing. But having witnessed firsthand the passion of the community and their efforts to save it, he’s taking an optimistic view of the gym’s future.
“I’ve spent the past five and a half years speaking the praises of this community and really just saying that they’re the most awesome community I’ve had the privilege to serve,” he said. “And so I think it would be disingenuous for me to not believe that they can make this happen.
“It really is a community effort, and I think it is a perfect summation of when someone says ‘it takes a village.’”
To stay up to date on Save Climb Nittany and to support the effort, visit saveclimbnittany.com and follow the group on Instagram and Facebook
