Close your eyes. You are sitting at your desk at work. Now imagine climbing a large cliff side…or Prospect Hill…are you seeing it? Good. Because soon you will be able to do just that at the new Brooklyn Boulders – Somerville.

Brooklyn Boulders- Somerville straddles the line of Somerville and Cambridge, based in the old Ames Envelope building on Tyler Street, nestled within the cool and growing community of Artisan’s Asylum, Hemlock Ink, Groundwork Somerville, and Somerville Local First, to name a few. The building will house a 140-foot long, 22-foot tall, free rope bouldering wall (the largest in the country) to a 50-foot tall rock climbing wall that extends to the ceiling. Novice climbers don’t worry – there will be training rooms, in addition to a yoga studio, saunas, cardio equipment and pop ups offering the latest rock climbing gear. (Brooklyn Boulders – Somerville made a conscious decision to include traditional cardio equipment in order for you to use your health insurance credit.)

In addition to rock climbing and workout areas, the space will also have six pop up retail spaces, an espresso bar, rooms for special events (for adults and kids), spaces especially for parents with young children, and co-working space – so you can literally go rock climbing steps from your seat. Brooklyn Boulders – Somerville will have ample car parking and indoor bike parking. Yes – that’s right – we said indoor bike parking! The entrance will be a graffiti-ed hallway filled with space for your bike. The facility also differs from other indoor rock climbing venues by offering day, monthly, quarterly and annual passes, which differences from traditional fitness venues.

This innovative approach and spirit can be seen in the founders of Brooklyn Boulders. At Babson, Jeremy Balboni and Lance Pinn created a business plan for a rock gym in Boston out of their passion for the sport and quickly went about moving the plan into reality. In the process, they took a break, gained some professional momentum and found an opportunity in 2008 to open a gym in New York; where it thrived and has grown to be one of the most lauded rock gyms in the country. Now with years of experience at their backs, they have to come back to Somerville to build the one of the biggest rock gyms in the country.

The owners are interested in being a part of the larger Cambriville community and have roots here, too. Jeremy grew up in Greater Boston, and Lance lives in Cambridge – they are truly interested in giving back to their community. They will offer local organizations opportunities to host climb-a-thons, incorporate local businesses in the pop up spaces, host a CSA pickup and more.

Brooklyn Boulders – Somerville plans to open this summer at 12A Tyler Street. Stop by and say hello, climb the wall, innovate with neighbors, and get a workout in. Sounds like a win-win-win-win… (we could keep adding wins, but you get the picture).