Plans have been put forward to turn a disused warehoused unit into a large indoor bouldering centre at in Burngreave.
The project is being run by Grip UK, alongside Urbanspace Planning to make use of the abandoned space at 15 Sutherland Street, Burngreave.
The company, which trades under the name ‘The Climbing Hangar’, is planning for a 1430 sq. metre conversion of the existing warehouse to provide a “unique leisure experience comprising a centre for climbers of all levels to practice bouldering.”
The Climbing Hangar have been operating for a decade, with sites in Liverpool, Plymouth, Swansea and London, and with the upcoming Tokyo Olympics debuting rock climbing as an Olympic sport, the excitement surrounding the sport is reaching new heights.
Their planning application adds: “Following the success of, and demand for, The Climbing Hangar’s existing operations, the operator has identified an opportunity to open a new centre to cater for the catchment area to the east of Sheffield, where the sport is increasingly growing in popularity. The proposed use is aimed at catering for the surrounding local area.”
Positioned only a mile away from the city centre, and readily accessed by public transport, the proposed centre is ideally situated for its “core target audience of 16 to 45-year olds.”
The proposal lays out plans to convert this disused warehouse into a 1000+ sq. ft indoor bouldering centre. Credit: Google Street View
The news has been met by overwhelming positivity from rock climbing and bouldering enthusiasts. Casey Hartley, 21, of Beighton, said:
“I love rock climbing, Sheffield is a hub for all kinds of sports and there are a few different places where you can go and practice but it is great to see another one look to open.”
“I have not been able to do it since the first lockdown a year ago, bouldering is loads of fun and really safe too. With the Olympic games featuring the sport this summer hopefully we will see more people get involved in it.”
The prospect of participation in the sport exponentially growing following its exposure at the upcoming Olympic games has solid grounding. Following women’s boxing being added to the London 2012 Olympic roster, women’s boxing has exploded and has created household names out of Nicola Adams, Katie Taylor and Claressa Shields.
Benjamin Livingstone, 29, of Doncaster, hopes that he will see the sport he loves follow a similar trajectory:
“I would love to see people like Adam Ondra and Chris Sharma get the recognition they deserve. They are both climbing world champions but outside of our community nobody really knows who they are.”
“Sheffield has a storied past of creating world champions in a variety of sports and now with this new project hopefully one day we will see an Olympic champion in climbing from there too.”
The proposal aims to recruit 15 staff on part-time contracts and 15 more on full-time, all from local areas where possible.
They aim to be open from 6:30AM to 10PM throughout the week and 9AM to 8PM on the weekend.
