Boulder Union
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Specs: Boulder Union is slated to open in the coming weeks in New Bedford, Massachusetts, led by Kaylee and Cody Grodzki, Amanda Desrosiers and Evan Hanson. After directing routesetting at High Point, a southern climbing chain, the Grodzkis decided to move back to New Bedford, where Cody’s climbing journey began. As an international routesetter, Cody hoped to bring more new-age climbing to the area. He also felt there was plenty of space for a bouldering gym in the area, since there is only one other commercial climbing gym in New Bedford.
Cody said the project initially started because he wanted a bouldering facility for his own training. What began as building a campus board in his garage turned into building a Moon Board, then a Kilter Board, then a shed for training, then a barn, and then a co-op. “If I’m building a co-op, I might as well build a bouldering gym,” Cody thought. The process then moved quickly—Desrosiers and Hanson joined the team, and Desrosiers found a space soon after. “Before we knew it, we were signing contracts and securing funding,” Cody said. Desrosiers’s discovery of the building was “probably one of the most fortuitous things about the entire project,” Cody said—the Boulder Union team was able to secure the space before it even went to market.
The location was an ideal spot, according to Cody, because it was close to their home and in a city with a colorful past. Called the “19th-century Whaling Capital of the World,” a lot of the town’s interesting history was retained in that part of town; surrounding the gym are cobblestone streets, original buildings and an active harbor, for instance. “It’s really cool that we’re in the center of it,” Cody said of the city. “We’re in the center of this historic district, and the building is super rad…It’s been empty for ten years because they couldn’t figure out what to do with it because it’s such a unique space.”
The building that houses Boulder Union was built in the mid-1900s as a Federal Reserve bank for the nation and held the architectural plans for every other Federal Reserve bank in the country, Cody explained. The structure was “crazily engineered and designed,” he said, with two-foot-thick, solid granite walls and a jail downstairs. The building had been renovated, but the renovations weren’t recorded. “They didn’t want bank robbers to know they just renovated the space [and] here are the architectural plans,” Cody said. “They kept everything super secret, so there are no records of any work that was done.” This past lent itself to unique challenges during construction since it wasn’t easy to know where the bricks, wood and granite would be. Fortunately, “There were no support pillars or beams we had to move,” Cody said. “It was just a clear, open space,” reaching 39 feet.
The team opted for a bouldering gym because they felt it would be easier to enter the market, more affordable and more collaborative. “I think bouldering is naturally more community-driven, more community-oriented,” Cody elaborated. Boulder Union will feature two floors of climbing amenities: The first floor will house the boulders, and the second floor will feature the board room, in the former banker’s board conference room. The second floor also offers traditional fitness equipment, overlooking the facility. The team is keeping some original elements of the building, like the stained-glass windows and the mahogany fireplace.
Cody has been routesetting for nearly 20 years and has set over 100 private, USAC and IFSC competitions. Because competition routesetting is a huge part of his personal passion, he hopes to blend the commercial experience with the competition experience at Boulder Union. “We’re going to offer commercial climbing, but with hopefully a little bit more of a new–age touch as well,” Cody said. For example, he decided to purchase holds seen in the World Cup circuit and Olympics, to give “folks an opportunity to climb on those styles of [climbs] at a level that’s appropriate.” He hopes to invest in every climber, and “to set really creative, interesting, aesthetic challenges…while also still setting true–to–form, new–England–grit, straightforward rock climbs.” And while he doesn’t want to immediately overwhelm the community with a lot of big competitions, he plans to eventually host Qualifying Events, private comps, local and member events, USAC events, and clinics.
Walls: OnSite
Flooring: OnSite
CRM Software: Rock Gym Pro
Website: www.boulderunion.com
Instagram: @Boulder_Union
In Their Words: “One thing for sure that we’re going to do, which I’m really excited about, is that, through what I do with Syndicate, this will be a great home base for a tremendous amount of youth training camps, adult training camps, routesetting workshops—both entry-level workshops all the way up through high–level, nationals–and–above workshops. Being a place where people can come and learn and hone their own skills—regardless of if they’re a newer climber, experienced climber, a newer setter, experienced setter and kind of everyone in between—is an aspect I’m really excited about.” – Cody Grodzki, Boulder Union Co-Founder and Co-Owner
Naomi is a personal trainer and a routesetter who has also worked at climbing gyms as a youth team coach. After starting college at Colorado State University in 2017, she wanted to make new friends and found climbing, fell in love, and now climbing dictates most of what she does. Naomi earned a bachelor’s degree in Ecosystem Science & Sustainability, and when not climbing she enjoys baking, gardening and crafting.
