By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
Located inside the Lorne Davies Complex (LDC) Central Gym, the SFU Climbing Wall has been closed since mid-December, and no one seems to know the reason why.
Chloe Hill, an ex-employee of the climbing wall, reached out to The Peak prior to January 11 when SFU Recreation announced the wall’s closure, citing the ongoing LDC renewal project as the reason.
Work on this project began in March 2023, and is mainly focused on the East Gym, pool, and changerooms throughout the facility. There are also seismic, mechanical, and plumbing upgrades for the original 1960s-era structure, which includes both the East Gym and pool deck.
Initially, on the LDC Renewal Project page created by SFU Athletics and Recreation, the climbing wall was noted as having limited access during construction. A question was posed in SFU Recreation’s climbing wall Facebook group that same month, asking how the “limited access” would affect the wall’s operation. SFU Recreation responded to this question, saying hours would not change much for the summer 2023 term and terms going forward. The comment also stated that, “In the event this changes due to construction, we will provide advanced notice to the climbing community.”
The climbing wall finished general operations for the Fall 2023 semester on December 8, and hosted a competition for Sport Climbing BC — a provincial non-profit climbing organization — on December 16. The day before the competition, Hill was informed by her supervisor that the climbing wall would not reopen for the Spring 2024 semester, as expected.
By then, as a programmer for the climbing wall, Hill had already sent out an email asking staff about their availability for next semester.
“I had no idea that when I sent out this email and asked for all this information, it didn’t mean anything,” she said in an interview with The Peak.
After consistently working in the facility since 2017, Hill said she noticed some changes in the hiring process.
“I signed one contract at the beginning of my employment and then I didn’t sign another contract for many, many years after that. But recently, every semester, we’ve been filling out new contracts. So when our contracts did end [in December], we were expecting new ones.” These new contracts have not been offered at the time of publication, and the recreation department hasn’t moved these employees to other programs, leaving many unemployed as a result.
The competition ended up going along as planned, with regulars of the climbing wall volunteering as timekeepers and judges — many of whom being informed about the climbing wall’s closure that day. For many students, Hill’s Reddit post and petition were how they learned about the facility’s closure. It wasn’t until hours later that SFU Recreation released the January 11 update, which was their first official notice regarding the wall’s closure.
“It didn’t seem like they were going to tell anybody at all what had happened,” Hill said on the timing of the post.
No listed reopening date or plan was mentioned in SFU’s January 11 update. Instead, two policies related to programs included in the Athletics and Recreation (A&R) student fees, which the climbing wall is not a part of, were stated as having priority during the renovations.
The two University policies are GP 36 — Use of University Space — and AD 1.17 — Control and Scheduling of Athletic Facilities. GP 36 references the general booking of university space, with no distinct mention of any recreational facilities. AD 1.17 Addendum 2 — dated July 31, 1979 — discusses the policies and procedures regarding a previous climbing wall at SFU. This means a demolished climbing wall from the ‘80s has more priority during construction than the current one.
Hill said no attempts have been made to include the climbing wall in the A&R student fees. “It does really feel like this facility has never been valued by the department, and it has constantly been under threat,” she said.
The climbing wall operates as a separate department under SFU Recreation. While there are other pay-per-use fitness services offered by the institution, those programs are grouped under other departments, whereas the climbing wall stands alone. Due to this separation from the rest of A&R programming, the climbing department has had to provide evidence every semester to SFU, proving their profitability as a program.
In the most recent statement issued by SFU Athletics and Recreation on January 19, the two policies were brought up again, with “space limitations” specified as the reason behind the temporary closure of the wall. An anticipated date of summer 2025 was also set for the wall’s reopening, which lines up with the estimated completion of the LDC Renewal Project.
The statement goes on to say, “The SFU Climbing Wall is used by a small number of SFU students and is considered a non-core service and is not included in the Athletics and Recreation student fee. As recreation programs continue to be evaluated to ensure they meet our community’s needs, the temporary closure will allow time to assess and develop a model for the program’s long-term feasibility and sustainability.”
There are still ongoing activities this semester in the Central Gym, including a majority of the A&R martial arts programming. At the time of publication, there have been no updates to the construction plan that includes the Central Gym in any capacity.
While the recreation team may be satisfied with the limited statements, climbing community members are not. Of the wall’s future, Hill said, “I want to believe that it’s a temporary closure. I want to believe that they are being honourable in their choices to do this, but none of the evidence supports that.
This feels like it’s not a temporary closure. It feels like they’re shuttering the facility and do not intend to reopen it.”
Despite being virtually unrelated to the construction in the renovation plan, the wall will remain closed for much of the LDC revitalization. Overall, the closure of the SFU Climbing Wall is questionable at best, and devastating at its worst.
