Well, folks. Big news. The Touchstone family is about to get even bigger…
We are thrilled to announce that we have secured a location for a state of the art indoor climbing gym in Culver City. Our first Southern California location, LA Boulders, opened in the Arts District of Los Angeles in late 2013. We’re happy to have found a location that will bring a Touchstone Climbing caliber gym to the West Side. The exact location is still hush hush, but let’s just say it’s VERY close to the 10.
“LA Boulders has changed the climbing gym market in Los Angeles,” said Sr. Manager Jeffery Bowling. “This new gym allows us to serve Culver City, Santa Monica, and beyond. We’re very excited about the location of the gym and thrilled by the warm welcome we have received from the L.A. climbing community.”
The Culver City gym has a 25,000 sq ft footprint, which would make it one of the largest indoor climbing gyms in the country. “We are still in the planning stages of the project, but we know we are building a very large bouldering gym. We are still exploring the idea of raising the roof to add a rope climbing area,” said Touchstone Climbing CEO Mark Melvin.
Culver City will be a full service gym, with designated areas for programs rooms, fitness equipment, and a training area. “Offering premier climbing, fitness, and classes like yoga and kickboxing has become synonymous with the Touchstone Climbing brand,” said Director of Marketing Lauryn Claassen. “Bringing a full service gym to Culver City will be huge for both the climbing and fitness communities.” That’s right people. Your climbing gym membership can also be your yoga studio membership, which will double as your home away from home!
We will once again be working with Walltopia, a leading climbing wall manufacturer and our BFFs, to build the gym. “This is our 5th project together and our partnership with Walltopia becomes stronger with each gym,” said Bowling, who visited Walltopia headquarters in Bulgaria in June. “We are ready to bring something truly innovative to the greater Los Angeles area.”
“We are cautiously confident that this project can be completed within the first half of 2015,” said Melvin. (!!!)
The Culver City gym will be the our 11th location in California. As you may remember, we announced a Pasadena location last March, which is still in the planning phase. “We are continuing to work with the city and will be announcing our progress in the coming months,” said Melvin. “These three locations give us a good start on serving the entire L.A. basin climbing community. Multiple locations in close proximity is one of the things that separates Touchstone from its competitors. When completed, one Touchstone membership will provide access to over 50,000 sq. ft. of climbing within a 20 minute drive.”
Boo. Yah. Get ready for a REALLY exciting year.
