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The Brooklyn Boulders rock-climbing group is turning a long-vacant Daily News garage into a climber’s dream world.

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The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan

This unassuming former Daily News garage is being converted into a rock climbing Nirvana.

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The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan

Inside walls will be challenging, judging by these angled frames.

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Finally, Brownstone Brooklynites will be able to get their rocks off on, well, rocks. The old Daily News garage on Third Avenue in Boerum Hill is being remade into Brooklyn Boulders, a rock-climbing center that will be a mountaineer’s Nirvana.

The off-the-wall business venture (pun intended) is expected to be partially opened by the second week of July.

Lance Pinn said that he and his two partners wanted to bring rock-climbing to Downtown Brooklyn, but didn’t find an adequate spot until they saw the Daily News garage, a surprisingly cavernous building between Degraw and Douglass streets, across from Thomas Greene Park and the Double D public pool.

“It looks like a 20 foot building [from the outside], but there’s an inset inside that goes up to 30 feet, five inches,” he said.

Such height will be enough to accommodate the center’s biggest architectural flourish: a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, suitable for climbing.

“We love the Brooklyn Bridge,” Pinn said. “It’s an iconic structure that you can’t climb.”

Rock-climbing walls exist in Manhattan and elsewhere in Brooklyn, such as at the Aviator Sports complex in Floyd Bennett Field or the less-challenging kid’s rock wall at Powerplay on Third Avenue near Eighth Street. Mostly, indoor climbers have to settle for a single wall or two at a gym.

As a result, Pinn said he was surprised to discover how many avid “rockers” there are in town.

“The support from the community has been outrageous,” he said. “Since we started construction, we’ve had about 70 people come to us right from the neighborhood asking if they can help out. There are so many climbing enthusiasts right here.”

Devotees claim that rock-climbing is not only good exercise, but fun for families because a good center offers climbs of varying degrees of difficulty.

Plus, the obvious: “They also make a fun potential date venue,” posted a man who identified himself only as “The Chicken” on Brownstoner.com, a Web site. “[Plus], you get to assess your date’s level of fitness!”

©2009 The Brooklyn Paper

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