Hoover opens 5,000-square-foot climbing adventure at Finley Center
The city of Hoover today opened its 5,000-square-foot Hoover Climbing & Adventure center at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex’s Finley Center.
The indoor climbing center, which cost about $326,000, features 15 colorful climbing stations with 19 auto belays and most of the climbing stations stretching 26 feet tall, said Erin Finney, the climbing center manager.
People can buy passes for 60-minute, 90-minute and 120-minute climbing sessions, or buy monthly passes, said John Sparks, general manager of the Hoover Metropolitan Complex. The climbing center also offers packages for birthday parties and corporate or team-building events.
The climbing center is right next to the lobby of the Finley Center, at the front of the building.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said it’s a great addition to the indoor sports and events center and outdoor sports complex, part of which is still under construction and due to open in January.
“It’s all coming together,” Brocato said. “This is just one more step.”
The climbing center will be a fun activity not only for Hoover residents, but also for the entire metropolitan area and people coming to events and athletic tournaments from across the Southeast and around the country, he said.
Sparks said that, many times, entire families come to watch children participate in athletic tournaments, and this will give them something else to do during their visit. It offers people a day of amusement, not just a tournament, and allows them to find that amusement on the same campus as the tournament, he said. The 15,000-square-foot outdoor playground and 7,000-square-foot splash pad set to open by January will help fulfill that same mission, he said. “It keeps the family here all day long.”
The Hoover Climbing & Adventure center will be open 3-8 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 3-9 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday. On Sunday, the center will only be available for birthday parties, with prices depending on the number of climbers and the type of birthday party package selected, Sparks said.
Daily admission prices for kids 12 and younger are $8 for 60 minutes, $10 for 90 minutes and $12 for 120 minutes. The cost for students with valid IDs is $10 for 60 minutes, $12 for 90 minutes and $14 for 120 minutes, while the cost for adults is $12 for 60 minutes, $14 for 90 minutes and $16 for 120 minutes.
Group rates for 10 to 20 climbers are $12 per student and $14 per adult for two hours of climbing time, while groups of more than 20 pay $10 per student and $12 per adult.
The center also offers monthly passes that are $40 for children 12 and younger, $50 for students with valid ID and $60 for adults.
By the end of this week, people should be able to buy climbing passes and book climbing times online, Sparks said.
Climbers must be at least 5 years old and 48 inches tall. Each climber is fitted with a safety harness and given instruction on how to operate the auto belay devices.
A second-grade class from Trace Crossings Elementary School was the first group to try out the climbing center today.
Abel Miranda, one of the students, said he had never been to a climbing center before and thought it was a cool experience. He especially liked the climbing station that had a timer on it.
Jack Beasley, another student, said he had been to a climbing center in Nashville before but liked this one better because it had more climbing options. He particularly liked a mostly enclosed one that had a glow-in-the-dark element to it.
For more information about the Hoover Climbing and Adventure center, go to hoovermetcomplex.com/climb.