The Welcome Wagon was out again in Downtown Eugene! On Thursday, May 1st, we dropped by The Circuit Bouldering Gym, a new climbing gym in the old Firestone building at 11th and Pearl.

The Circuit opened in December and offers everything one might expect from a bouldering gym, including new routes every week, strength training, a programmable wall and more. Above and beyond that, The Circuit has extra amenities like a bar with four rotating taps and a ping pong table. Last week, they hosted a viewing for the Reel Rock film festival with over 100 folks sitting in.

Taking Advantage of Downtown Opportunities

One of the most striking elements of The Circuit’s gym space is its open-air structure. Once the weather turns slightly pleasant, the garage doors get rolled up and the massive windows throughout the building are opened up, letting in sunshine and fresh air while allowing anyone street-side an excellent first-hand view into the gym.

Refurbishing and replacing the garage doors and windows was a project made possible by a Downtown Eugene facade improvement loan. Loan programs like these are a unique asset available to businesses setting up shop in Downtown Eugene.

Downtown Eugene is also where you’ll find one of the city’s densest collections of PeaceHealth Rides rentable bicycles. The Circuit team wasted no time in getting their bike racks into the system as parking hubs for the PeaceHealth Rides system, meaning anyone can park their rented bike there for free, avoiding the $2 fee for non-hub lock-ups. General manager Todd McCormick, who gave us our tour, remarked he was surprised there weren’t two or three blue bikes locked up there during our visit.

Forging Downtown Relationships

The Circuit has already started leaning hard into the Downtown Eugene community.

Throughout the construction process, the team built ties with nearby Falling Sky Brewing, and two Falling Sky beers can now be found rotating through the Circuit’s taps.

Meanwhile, the team has gotten on a first-name basis with the staff at Mezza Luna up the street. During our visit, we saw multiple Circuit employees coming back with lunch slices. McCormick also talked up Community Cup Coffee at the corner of Broadway & Pearl as a popular spot for staff. For the Reel Rock viewing, the Community Cup team kicked in hot tea to ensure viewers had non-alcoholic refreshment options, making for a truly family-friendly event.

The student population, according to McCormick, makes up about 75% of climbers at this time. He and his team have worked closely with folks at the University of Oregon to come up with tie-ins to the University’s climbing club and various student housing projects. He told us that maintenance staff at 13th & Olive are currently handing out day passes with maintenance requests. What a great way to take advantage of this captive downtown audience!

Go For a Climb

A couple folks on the Welcome Wagon crew hit the walls on our way out the door, and we’re proud to say that everyone was able to top out. Get down to The Circuit and check it out for yourself—your first visit is free!