ISU students soon will be able to climb to new heights at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Construction will begin in Nov. for a $91,000 climbing wall that is expected to be ready for use by the beginning of the spring semester, said Larry Cooney, director of recreation services. Cooney said university staff members toured several campuses, including the University of Northern Iowa, University of Iowa, University of Texas and Texas A&M University, to learn the positive and negative aspects of their climbing walls. “We learned from them how to do it the right way,” Cooney said. Cooney said several universities have freestanding walls that have more safety risks. However, Cooney said Iowa State’s wall will be enclosed in a racquetball court to give added security. “Within the court area it will be more secure, which is an important consideration,” he said. Ryan Curl, junior in art and design, said he plays racquetball at Lied, but does not see a problem in having one court taken away to accommodate the climbing wall since seven courts at Lied and six courts at Beyer Hall still will be available. “This gives you plenty of options and we still have more racquetball courts to use,” Curl said. “It’s nice to give people options of other things to do. Especially during the winter, I think it will be more popular.” The wall was funded from a student fees allocation through the Government of the Student Body, said Mike Harvey, associate director of recreational services. Recreation personnel are budgeting to make use of the wall free to students, he said. Jenny Knapp, sophomore in dietetics, attended UNI last year and said she used the climbing wall often. While climbing can be scary at first, she said it has many rewards. “It helps people conquer their fears,” she said. “You kind of have a sense of freedom, too.” Cooney said the total size of the climbing wall will be 20 feet high by 60 feet wide. The casting for the wall will be constructed on site using a textured concrete surface over plywood to look and feel like rock formations, he said. Though climbing workshops will be offered, Cooney said there are no qualifications to using the wall because employees will be on hand to give people instructions and outfit them with the proper gear. Students using the climbing wall will be able to participate in a recreational activity and learn to climb, so they will be confident enough to take outdoor climbing trips, Cooney said. “It will be challenging, but it will be in the reach of most students,” he said. Cooney said the recreation center is continually upgrading to keep up with current trends, and the construction of a climbing wall will add a whole new multipurpose element to the facility. “It’s one more thing that will add to the quality of Iowa State,” he said.