After a venue had been chosen (a miniscule, padded gym that was a part of the Calgary NE Sports Facility), the Breathe Parkour (BP) team started planning on the facility features. Everybody involved had a brainwave and contributed to a discussion that lead to a conclusion the gym would be built in three phases. Phase 1 entailed the foam pit, basic necessities, flooring (grass, rubber and foam), a bar area and basic wooden structures. Phase 2 or 3 would include the dramatic addition of an entire second floor, adding obstacles, structures and polishing the place’s imperfections. The Space, as the guys named the gym, was born...
Eventually an ambitious Google Sketchup (a 3D modeling program) project was produced and through peer editing and peer additions, the team finally had finished product, proportions and all, ready to be built. They also made a decision the gym would be finished in one month. Coincidentally that one month was February, the shortest month of the year…
Many figureheads of the Calgary parkour community gave willing assistance to demolish the old space and there were many friends and multitudes of good times to be had. The first day was primarily just traceurs tearing things down and throwing flips on them, and playing wall ball with a ball they found behind one of the walls they tore down. It was probably the most exciting day of the construction of the Space. Spirits, morale, and productivity (kind of) were at their highest that day. The next day, which was Sunday, was drastically less active. It was all volunteer-based, and people couldn’t really be legally bound to come and work on the gym so attendance fluctuated from that point. For the rest of the month, construction began at a healthy pace and if somebody had an idea for an obstacle with measurements and materials listed, the BP contemplated it. It was a community project.
photo credit: breathepk.com
photo credit: breathepk.com
photo credit: breathepk.com
Nobody in the construction area really realized how tiny the timeframe was until the day before opening. On the last Friday before the opening on Saturday, everybody was frantic. The gym changed drastically between Thursday and opening Saturday, including some foam pit structures and some cool random wood creations adjacent to the pit. But opening day was a huge success and there was an awesome attendance, positive energy and a lot of enthusiasm around; a small and ugly gym turned into a gargantuan facility with exclusively wood obstacles. If you are used to throwing yourself around in a gym environment with little regard to how it might transfer outdoors, the Breathe Space excels in the area preparing one for the outdoors where the previous one did not. And that what makes it a really fantastic place for everybody regardless their skills or age.
photo credit: breathepk.com
photo credit: breathepk.com
photo credit: breathepk.com
Breathe Parkour also organize instruction parkour classes for youngsters, summer camps and various events such as Varkour Day on 6th of June, 2014, the second annual women only event.
If you want to pay the gym a visit or enroll in one of the classes, here are the open hours:
For more infor go to: www.breathepk.com
Source: http: www.wfpf.com; photo credit: breathepk.com and their FB
