The Stronghold Climbing Gym

The building started in 1904 as the California Edison Company's Los Angeles No. 3 Steam Power Plant, designed by John Parkinson, the architect behind LA City Hall and Union Station, its boilers once piping steam next door to spin the turbines that ran the city's Red Car railroad and street lights. The Stronghold opened inside it in March 2014, keeping walls over 40 feet tall alongside a separate bouldering area topping out at 16 feet, five auto-belays for climbing solo, and a full weight room with saunas and showers. Yoga classes, private lessons and an adaptive-climbing program round out the schedule, and the building itself carries Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument status.