Fredericton Bouldering Co-op Seeking Investors For New Climbing Gym
FREDERICTON – A group of rock climbing enthusiasts in Fredericton are taking matters into their own hands as uncertainty about the fate of their home base looms.
Members of the UNB Rock & Ice Club, currently based at the climbing wall at the University of New Brunswick Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium, have formed the Fredericton Bouldering Co-op and are concentrating efforts into getting enough community investors on board to build their own, brand-new climbing facility.
Fredericton Bouldering Co-op president Adam Morgan says they chose to organize under a cooperative model rather than establishing a private commercial gym because of the nature of the climbing community in Fredericton.
“Over the years, the situation changed between the Rock & Ice Club and the university,” Morgan says. “There was a loss of autonomy and there’s a desire by those who knew the community in its prime to have more control over our facility and do what we want there. There’s always room for a full-on private commercial gym but the community is not going to have the same input and control that we’ll have under the cooperative model.”
Morgan says URec, the arm of the University of New Brunswick that runs its fitness facilities, has informed the group that as long as the Sir Max Aitken Pool at the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium stays open, they will keep the climbing wall open.
But after months of failed negotiations between UNB and the City of Fredericton, the pool was scheduled to close in September of this year. In May, the university’s board of governors accepted a funding agreement between the city and the provincial government to keep the facility open another three years.
Still, the Fredericton Bouldering Co-op is ready for their own space.
“We had long as a community outgrown that gym. It’s done us well, but it’s small,” Morgan says. “We’ve put a lot of hard work in so far. We’ve incorporated the cooperative and finally got our designation from the Department of Finance and the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick.”
The Fredericton Bouldering Co-op has qualified for the Government of New Brunswick’s Small Business Investor Tax Credit, which provides a 50 per cent non-refundable personal income tax credit to eligible individual investors. Morgan says this is the cornerstone of the cooperative’s financing goal, which currently is the minimum startup capital of $200,000.
Morgan says the cooperative’s fundraising model is one of equity investment. Investors become members of the cooperative by buying a single social share for $100, which gives them a lifetime membership. Those with shares can vote and have their say on cooperative issues. The cooperative is also offering investor incentives depending on investment amounts, including discounts on climbing wall memberships which they say will surpass initial investment values.
“We are working towards raising enough so that ideally, we don’t need any private investment outside of the community model,” Morgans says. “There’s some shimmy room there. It’s not all or nothing.”
Morgan says the goal may need to be adjusted depending on the outcome of this round of financing. If they don’t reach their ideal goal, they will consider some private investment and/or bank loans.
The Fredericton Bouldering Co-op’s new facility would see the needs of the local climbing community met. Morgan says ideally, the facility would be located downtown and be between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet. In addition to the climbing and training area, it would include a welcome desk and cafe or sandwich bar. The larger space would also mean a safer environment for climbers.
“The rock climbing community needs a home. The sport is growing in leaps and bounds. It’s going to be in the Olympics in 2020 and the demand is really there,” Morgan says.
“Hopefully we get some eyes on this and get a few more investors”