In the November 2019 election, Teton County voters approved $22,000,000 for a “Teton County/Jackson Recreation Center Expansion and Renovation, Community Climbing Gym, King Street Extension, and Stormwater Treatment.”
On August 10th and 11th, from 11 a.m.—7 p.m. at the Rec Center, Teton County Parks and Rec will host a Community Open House about the expansion, including the development of the climbing gym.
According to a press release, the Open House will allow community members to ask questions and provide their input to Parks & Rec on the expansion’s initial designs, which allocate approximately 7,200 square feet to the climbing gym.
The Enclosure Climbing Gym, which had 700 members when it closed in 2014, had 10,000 square feet of climbing area. The Rec Center climbing gym will have more users than The Enclosure did—one of the reasons more than 600 community members signed a petition earlier this year calling for a bigger facility.
Last summer, more than 300 community members completed a survey on the climbing gym. 85% of respondents indicated that the square footage initially proposed for the gym would be inadequate for the needs of the community.
In April 2021, community members sent more than 80 letters to elected officials requesting that the gym’s size be increased to a minimum of 10,000 to 12,000 square feet
These requests align with the reasons outlined by The Teton Climbers’ Coalition that the climbing gym should be big enough to meet current and future community needs.
Feedback gathered during the Aug. 10-11 Open House will be used by Parks & Rec to refine the designs and begin the development of construction documents. Construction is estimated to begin in May of 2022 and reach completion by February 2024.
For more information on the Community Open House, click here.