Momentum Indoor Climbing SODO

The former Sears Automotive Center in Seattle’s SoDo district became the home of Momentum’s first climbing gym in Washington. The climbing walls were built in units in Bulgaria by Walltopia, an indoor climbing manufacturer, and shipped to Seattle. Much of our critical work took place prior to the arrival of the walls, including a complete gut of the existing building and removal of over 5,000 square feet of roof, which had to be raised to accommodate the higher climbing structures. Since the project was under construction in wet weather, special techniques were developed to remove the roof in overlapping sections that could be weatherproofed daily, avoiding water intrusion from above.

The interior layout had to be exact to match the climbing walls, once they arrived — and the plans were in Bulgarian and metric units. They had to be carefully translated and the measurements were painstakingly converted. The climbing structures have many compound angles and varying structural connection points, with only 1/8” tolerances in some areas. Our superintendent’s communication with the Bulgarian installation crew, where only the team leader spoke English, was a key component in making sure the climbing wall installation worked in harmony with our other construction activities. Our teamwork was successful, and work completed right on time in this fast-track schedule.