Zenith climbing gym targets winter opening

The indoor rock climbing gym scene is gaining a toehold in Springfield this winter.

Everett Pauls, a former manager of the Queen City’s defunct Big Rock Climbing Center, along with his wife Audrey and business partners Tony and Jamie Kalil, are converting the New Sunshine Technology Center - the former home of call center Grand Crowne Resorts, 3534 E. Sunshine St. - into Zenith Climbing Center LLC. Pauls said the company is targeting a late 2015-early 2016 opening date.

“We’ve put up all of the interior walls,” Pauls said. “We’re doing a lot of the design right now and currently in the process of putting in the showers.”

Mid- to late-October will bring the installation of the gym’s climbing walls, which Pauls said are being constructed out of state. When complete, the climbing space also would feature two bouldering areas, a kid’s wall, a yoga studio, locker rooms and a small weight room for upper-body strengthening

Pauls declined to disclose startup costs for Zenith or the terms of the company’s lease on the 12,800-square-foot space with Fuldner Properties LLC. Most recently, the facility housed the Passages Bible history museum.

Pauls said Zenith would be open to the public, as well as offer monthly, quarterly and annual memberships, with costs to be determined. Membership would include exclusive access to the climbing gym during morning hours and a premium-level would add access to the yoga studio and weight room.

Pauls said Zenith plans to hire roughly 10 employees, all of whom would hold American Mountain Guides Association climbing wall instructor certification. Zenith would rent out equipment, including chalk bags and harnesses, and staff would assist climbers in earning belay certification - the use of ropes to prevent falls.

“I think climbing inside is a great escape, especially here in the Midwest because we don’t have much rock,” he said. “It’s good in different times of the season, but we want to get people excited about climbing as a whole and promote climbing outside.”

An AMGA-certified single pitch instructor, Pauls said future plans for the business include an outdoor guide service for cross-country climbing trips. But Zenith won’t have to travel far for some excursions.

“Arkansas is a gym,” Pauls said. ”It’s a place no one would really expect climbing to be, but it’s a world-class climbing area.”