Steamboat Parents Raise Funds to Buy Excel Gymnastics Building

“Currently the building is for sale, and so if Excel Gymnastics wants to stay open and operating, then we would either need a new space, or for this space to be purchased,” said Riley Lanquar, gymnastics coach for Excel Gymnastics. “Unfortunately, there’s not really another space in Steamboat Springs that could be purchased that could house a gymnastics gym.”

The words are simple. The stakes are not.

The structure at 1955 Bridge Lane is listed for $2.6 million. It houses Excel Gymnastics, the largest recreational outlet in town, plus four other businesses. The listing has triggered a grassroots fundraising campaign. Parents are scrambling. They know what happens when you lose a anchor tenant in a mixed-use commercial block: the rent goes up, or the space gets repurposed.

Mike Smith, the owner of Excel Gymnastics, confirmed the sale Monday. He’s been in the business for more than two decades. He started teaching for “Mr. Dan” Dan Atkins in the late 1990s. Atkins ran a small operation out of the George P. Sauer Human Services Center. The school district kicked Atkins out in 2007. They needed the Eighth Street building for classes while the elementary school next door was torn down and rebuilt.

Atkins closed his business. Smith stepped in.

Excel opened. It moved from Riverside Plaza to Bridge Lane. Smith has operated under three different landlords for 20-plus years. He knows the game. But this time, the lease runs through June 2028. The property is on the market now.

The space is 11,200 square feet of gym floor. Add 2,100 square feet of offices, studios, and bathrooms. That’s a lot of real estate for one sport. It’s also home to Steamboat Springs Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Spirit Wind Aerial Arts is there. The Music Together program rents space. Katherine Gibbs, a psychologist, keeps her office there.

Excel runs 25 classes and eight open gyms every week. Smith opens the doors to preschools and daycares. The Boys and Girls Club uses it. Discovery Learning Center uses it. Hayden Totally Kids uses it. North Routt Community Charter Schools use it. Several home daycares use it.

If the building sells to a developer who wants luxury condos, those programs lose their roof. If the new owner hikes the rent, Excel can’t pay. The community loses a hub.

Lanquar says the lack of alternative space is the problem. You can’t just move a 13,000-square-foot gymnastics facility to downtown Steamboat Springs. The zoning won’t allow it. The footprint is too big. The cost is too high.

“The short version,” Lanquar said, “is that we need to buy this building.”

The grassroots effort is underway. Parents are donating. Locals are giving. They aren’t waiting for a city council vote. They aren’t waiting for a developer to be nice. They are trying to secure the future of the space before the ink dries on the sale.

Smith has been part of the fabric of Steamboat Springs since the beginning. He didn’t just open a gym. He filled a void left by the school district’s expansion. He kept kids active. He kept parents employed. He kept the community connected.

Now, he’s selling. Or rather, the building is selling. Smith’s lease holds until 2028. That gives the community time. But time is expensive.

The building sits at 1955 Bridge Lane. It’s a landmark. It’s a liability for some. It’s a lifeline for others.

The question isn’t whether the building will sell. It’s who buys it. And what they do with it.

If a private investor picks it up, they’ll look for yield. They’ll look for higher rent. They won’t care about the Boys and Girls Club. They won’t care about the 25 weekly classes. They’ll care about the square footage.

The community knows this. That’s why they’re raising the money.

Read that again. The community is raising the money to buy the building. Not to fix it. Not to renovate it. To buy it.

It’s a race against the market. And the market is fast.