page_title: Edinburgh International Climbing Arena
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Edinburgh International Climbing Arena / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Interior shot of Edinburgh International Climbing Arena. Ratho, near Edinburgh, Scotland.
context_page_description: Edinburgh International Climbing Arena is an adventure sports facility located in Ratho, near Edinburgh, Scotland. Built in a disused quarry, it is one of the largest indoor climbing walls in the world.
  It was purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council and fully reopened in May 2007 after a further programme of works costing around GB£6 million. The centre is now used by both recreational climbers and for competitions, and is also home to the Scottish National Judo Academy.
context_section_description: Originally used for supplying stone to the Central Belt of Scotland due to its proximity to the Union Canal, the quarry expanded from around a third of its present size in 1853 to the current outline in 1895. Edinburgh climbers Rab Anderson, Duncan McCallum and architect David Taylor formed the Ratho Quarry Company, and purchased the quarry in 1995 as the site for the climbing centre. The quarry, which had been unused for around ninety years, was filled with compacted rubble and heavily overgrown with trees and shrubs, making assessment of the site difficult until significant work had been carried out, but the assumption that the floor of the quarry was flat proved to be correct. Plans unveiled in late 2001 showed the estimated cost to be GB£7 million, with funding of GB£1.5 million to come from a Sportscotland lottery fund grant.
  The climbing centre is located in the smaller of two lobes of a figure of eight that make up the quarry. After 250,000 tonnes (250,000 long tons; 280,000 short tons) of rubble was removed, the quarry was shown to have a broadly level floor and be almost 30 metres (98 ft) deep. During construction in April 2002, the partially completed roof was ripped off in a storm.
  When it opened in December 2003, the centre was the largest indoor climbing arena in the world, but problems during construction increased the final cost to GB£22 million. In March 2004 the centre went into receivership due to a leaky roof, poor management, and a lack of money, leaving a number of contractors unpaid. It was purchased by the City of Edinburgh Council in October 2005 for GB£3.87 million, and then closed in August 2006 to allow full completion of the venue.
  It reopened on 25 May 2007, under the management of Edinburgh Leisure, a non-profit organisation which provides sport and leisure facilities on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council. GB£6 million was spent overhauling the roof, the plumbing, improving the car park and converting an unopened scuba diving tank into a dedicated bouldering room. Under new management, more emphasis was placed on making the centre accessible to families and visitors as well as experienced climbers. The roof, consisting of 8,500 square metres (91,000 sq ft) of tensioned fabric, was replaced at the end of 2013 at a cost of around GB£500,000.
caption: Interior of the Arena
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