Gymnastics business constructs 18,100-square-foot building on Sahara Avenue

McKenzie Baliff does her trampoline routine during practice in June at Desert Gymcats in Las Vegas. Desert Gymcats is set to open a new, larger facility by summer. Elizabeth Brumley/View Follow @elipagephoto

Desert Gymcats has outgrown its space and is building an 18,100-square-foot facility at 8220 W. Sahara Ave. that’s expected to open by summer.

“It will be the first Southern Nevada competitive trampoline and tumbling facility,” said Stacy Carrero, co-owner of the gymnastics company. “We’re splitting our programs, expanding the trampoline and tumbling and bringing back our competitive cheerleading teams.”

When those teams grew to roughly 100 girls, she said, the current site could not accommodate them all.

The new, larger facility is set to house Gymcats’ artistic programs, intermediate through competitive. It will include what’s billed as the only full-length power tumbling strip in Southern Nevada, and at more than 120 feet long, it’s aimed at offering would-be champions an experience similar to what they face in competition.

Vanessa Gallagher, 16 and a junior at Shadow Ridge High School, has been in the gymnastics program at Gymcats for seven years. She called it her second home, as she’s there to train six days a week, four hours a session.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Gallagher said of the new facility. “I can’t wait. There’ll be more space and more equipment to use. That way, we won’t all be sitting there waiting for a turn.”

The expansion has been in the works for nearly five years. The gym co-owners’ real estate agent would find a location that was big enough, but then an obstacle would appear. The last spot they’d eyed was at Oakey Boulevard and Buffalo Drive. It seemed ideal, but neighbors objected and the Las Vegas City Council denied the application.

The new parcel, the co-owners said, is “perfect.”

The boys program will remain at the current location, as will the preschool and developmental girls’ programs.

The owners-operators behind the business include Carrero’s daughter, Jessica Spruell, a two-time Junior Olympic national qualifier and three-time Academic All American athlete. Having been a gymnast helps her translate what to do and impart what judges expect, she said.

“I can see the mistakes that I made and impart that wisdom to the kids and let them learn from my experience,” Spruell said.

Carrero’s other daughter and Spruell’s older sister, Cassie Rice, runs Gymcats in Henderson. It has been a long road to the recent groundbreaking.

“We had a gym in Yonkers, New York, also named Gymcats. It was 1976 when we started,” Carrero said, her voice trailing as she thought back. “So, yeah, we’ve been in existence 40 years.”

After moving to Las Vegas in 1998, Carrero took over a storefront operation with 120 students at Rock Springs Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard. By 2001, she’d increased enrollment more than three times over and the business was bursting at the seams. Desert Gymcats moved in 2001 to its current location, at 950 S. Cimarron Road, a $1.2 million building with roughly 12,000 square feet. Today, it has about 1,500 students.

“This was a step up,” Carrero said.

The new facility will offer breathing room and a custom build-out that’s specific to their needs.The $3.25 million building will allow the co-owners to offer everything on their wish list for their students: a full-size gymnastics floor, a tumble track, foam pits and four in-ground trampolines.

The side-by-side trampolines will allow for dual trampoline routine training.

“I have some really talented staff members,” Carrero said. “They’re going to help us grow.”

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.