For a long time, those who use the Lied Recreation Center have hoped for a climbing wall, and by next year their wish may come true.

Larry Cooney, director of recreation services, Rob Wiese, Graduate Student Senate president, Bryan Burkhardt, Government of the Student Body president and Joe Brus, former GSB off campus senator, have met in hopes of initiating the construction of a climbing wall in the rec center.

The wall is planned to be built where the first racquetball court is currently located.

The glass walls which surround the court will enable people to see the wall as they enter the building, and keep the area enclosed so its use could be regulated.

The time line for the construction of the wall is only tentative, Burkhardt said.

Bids on the wall will begin May 1 and will be open for 30 days. After a company is chosen to supply the wall, construction negotiations will begin.

Burkhardt said he hopes the wall will be completed by the beginning of spring semester 1999.

“This is going to be one of the improvements we’ll see in the next year,” he said.

The money to purchase the wall will come from student fees. Every year, some of the student fees money goes to a recreation services capital improvement account, which should contain enough to cover the cost of the wall, Burkhardt said.

If GSB decides more money is needed from the special projects account, a bill will have to be approved by the senate.

GSB became involved in the issue because of interest expressed by students.

“We helped try to start the initiative,” Burkhardt said.

Beyond that, GSB will not have any further involvement in the wall’s erection unless more funding is necessary.

Once the wall is built, only limited, supervised use will be allowed. Classes and training will also be offered through the outdoor program, said Scott Vanderkamp, associate director of recreation services.

Some workshops are currently offered on a climbing tower at the 4-H camp, he said.

Vanderkamp said determining which wall to buy is similar to looking at a Volkswagen Bug and a Mercedes. He said his goal is to find something in the middle — highly usable, safe, affordable and compact enough to fit between the two walls of the racquetball court.

“We want something everybody will like,” he said.

Many newer recreation centers around the country have climbing walls, and Vanderkamp said he hopes the rec will soon be in the same classification.

There are only four or five major companies in locations such as Minnesota and Colorado that handle climbing walls so finding the most suitable one isn’t a local process.

“If everything works out right, we’ll have it sometime in the fall semester,” Vanderkamp said.

Burkhardt added that when a construction company is decided upon, it will be a couple of months before construction can begin, due to the rising popularity of climbing walls and their limited availability.