LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Lakewood soon might have a rock-climbing gym in the basement of the Lakewood Baptist Church.

While he still has a few hoops to jump through before he can officially open the gym, entrepreneur Peter Stancato hopes to have Nosotros -- Spanish for "us" -- open for business in 2018.

The gym would bring an emerging exercise trend to the west side suburbs. Stancato keeps a blog that updates the gym's progress.

When finished, he said, Nosotros will feature several artificial climbing walls of varying levels of difficulty, the culmination of an idea he formulated after a wedding that he and his wife attended seven years ago.

While his spouse was in the wedding party, Stancato said he didn't know anyone else who was invited. One of the groomsman, however, took him on a bonding expedition to a rock-climbing gym in central Ohio.

Stancato had a blast, and in the process formed plans for his future gym.

"A light bulb went on," he said. "I thought this would be a sweet idea to bring to Cleveland."

The setup didn't seem difficult.

"The one we went to was in a garage," he said. "The (climbing) walls were built by plywood."

He said he and his wife spent the next several years saving money and making a plan for their business, which involved, among other things, talking to business professionals.

Northeast Ohio has a few rock-climbing gyms, and Stancato's would be the first on the west side. His business would sit in the church's basement and include walls around 13 feet high, some of which would be set at an incline.

He picked the location because it was affordable and accessible. The church is on Detroit Avenue in the city's downtown.

"What we're doing is called 'bouldering'," Stancato said. "That's a type of climbing done on short heights that allows us to do it in a basement. The challenge comes with incline."

Bouldering is common on cruise ships and in parks.

Stancato said his gym will be smaller than some of the others in the area (which include Kendall Cliffs in Akron, Cleveland Rock Gym in Euclid and Climb Cleveland), but it also will be less expensive, and he hopes to foster a fun atmosphere that includes background music.

The artificial walls would have difficultly levels ranging from easy to expert. The easy walls would be straight up and down.

"That's mostly for kids or people trying different holds and positions for their bodies," Stancato said. "The expert section will be like a cave, with a 45-degree tilt and you're trying to get to the pinnacle."

Climbers come to climbing gyms for both fun and exercise, but mostly for fun, he said.

Stancato said Wednesday that he's in the process of submitting plans to Lakewood's Building Department, which needs to sign off on them before he can proceed.