The Rock Dump indoor climbing gym is en route to a new home. Where that route ends, gym operators don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
In a Jan. 6 letter addressed to the Juneau community, members of the Juneau Climbing & Recreation board, a nonprofit which has run the gym for 4 1\/2 years, updated the community on their intention to move the Rock Dump from its Thane Road location.<\/p>\n
\u201cJuneau Climbing & Recreation is considering the Rock Dump\u2019s long-term options and putting together a business plan,\u201d wrote the JCR board. In a Tuesday phone call, board member Tyler Gress said the company is looking for a profitable alternative, which could mean downsizing to a bouldering gym.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have explored many, many options,\u201d Gress said. \u201cWe cast the net really wide because it\u2019s not only where are we gonna be but where are we gonna find the money to pay for a new place.\u201d<\/p>\n
A comparable space to the Thane Road location would cost \u201cupward of $1 million,\u201d Gress said, money JCR doesn\u2019t have. The Rock Dump hasn\u2019t been profitable for years and has only been able to stay in business thanks to a generous deal from Alaska Coach Tours.<\/p>\n
The group has rented the building at below market rates since 2012, when Rock Dump founder Matthew Cecil ceased business operations and sold the building to Alaska Coach Tours. The tour company originally cut a deal with JCR, formed by local climbers, to operate the gym until the end of that year, but ended up renewing the lease indefinitely in an effort to keep the gym open despite not being able to develop the space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe partnership was intended to be short-term, but every year Alaska Coach continued to renew the lease and to subsidize the rent,\u201d the JCR board wrote. \u201cThe Rock Dump would not have been able to remain open for the last 4+ years if it had not been for the support of Alaska Coach Tours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Company president Dennis McDonnell explained that Alaska Coach Tours had \u201cput their plans on hold\u201d for the building for years \u201cwithout any regrets,\u201d as helping to keep the town\u2019s only rock climbing gym open was the \u201cright thing to do\u201d for the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people don\u2019t realize that Alaska Coach Tours is owned by Alaskans, of which four partners live in Juneau,\u201d McDonnell wrote. \u201cWe are more than satisfied with the thought that we helped keep this gym going both operationally and financially.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last November the company informed JCR that they couldn\u2019t continue subsidizing the climbing gym. The rent the Rock Dump paid didn\u2019t pay for Alaska Coach Tour\u2019s mortgage.<\/p>\n
But, at least initially, the deal didn\u2019t cost the tour company much as Alaska Coach Tours didn\u2019t have a need for the gym space. It would have remained unoccupied for at least a small window of time. So, when on a tour of the building with McDonnell in 2012, Gress proposed the idea of renting the unused gym space for less than market value before finding a new place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought it couldn\u2019t hurt to ask,\u201d said Gress, who was a caretaker for the building in Cecil\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n
McDonnell, whom Gress called, \u201cone of the greatest guys on the planet,\u201d agreed to rent the space out for cheap, allowing JCR to pay for utilities but not charging them enough to pay the building\u2019s mortgage. To make the deal work, the two groups would have to redo the purchasing agreement.<\/p>\n
One problem was that Alaska Coach Tour\u2019s purchase agreement for the building included all of Cecil\u2019s personal property inside: the hand holds, harnesses, mats, hardware and tools which make the climbing gym possible. A clause in the agreement also required Alaska Coach Tours to immediately demolish rock climbing structures in the building.<\/p>\n
McDonnell agreed to donate all the climbing equipment to the Rock Dump climbers and reworked the agreement to keep the climbing walls standing.<\/p>\n
After the eight-month lease was up, JCR asked if they could renew their agreement, which meant Alaska Coach Tours had to shut down trolley operations due to not being able to park the vehicles inside the Rock Dump building. Despite the climbing gym now hurting business, McDonnell again agreed.<\/p>\n
In the years since, JCR has been unable to find a profitable alternative to the Thane Road location. But unable to let go of their beloved gym, JCR \u201cjust kept carrying on year to year and Coach kept renewing the lease year to year, which has been great,\u201d Gress said.<\/p>\n
JCR has many ideas on moving forward, but are running into several road blocks on keeping the Rock Dump going as is. The cost of a mortgage for a new building and operating costs makes the situation \u201ca little grim\u201d said Gress.<\/p>\n
They need city or state backing, which Gress said isn\u2019t likely given budget concerns, or a big windfall in the form of a fundraising campaign.<\/p>\n
Making things tougher, the Internal Revenue Service denied JCR status as a 501(c)(3) charity, meaning donations to the group can\u2019t be written off as taxes.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, McDonnell agreed to allow the group to stay in the building until July 1, giving JCR a little more time to find an alternative. Gress said the group\u2019s priority right now is maintaining continuity for members: They want to find a space to move into right away so they can transition their members to a new facility without a break in service.<\/p>\n
The new deadline has \u201cput the fire out for now,\u201d Gress said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kevin.gullufsen@juneauempire.com.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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