Famed mountaineers Eric Simonson and Dee Molenaar will be the featured speakers at a fundraiser the Tacoma Mountaineers are holding to support its plans to build climbing walls at its new program center.

The Mountaineers are in the midst of fundraising for indoor and outdoor climbing walls, said chapter President Geoff Lawrence. The April 11 program is a kickoff for the final phase of fundraising.

“The initial fundraising was seeded with some funds remaining from Program Center fundraising and from climbing wall-specific donations, and we have raised some additional funds after the opening of the Tacoma Program Center,” Lawrence said.

The group has raised more than $60,000 of its $135,000 goal to fund both walls.

The design of the recently ordered indoor climbing wall will be unveiled at the event. Installation of the wall is expected to be complete by the end of June.

The indoor wall is coming from Entre Prises, which supplied the climbing walls at the Mountaineers Seattle Program Center and the spire at the REI flagship store in Seattle.

“We hope that we will have the necessary funds raised for the outdoor climbing wall so that it will be installed and ready for use in the spring of 2014,” Lawrence said.

The evening will start with entertainment by Tacoma Mountaineer and magician Jeff Evans of Amazement Productions. A three-course dinner will be provided by Tacoma Mountaineer and chef Joy Parobek.

The event will conclude with the mountaineering program.

A Tacoma Mountaineer, author and co-owner of International Mountain Guides, Simonson is internationally recognized as one of the world’s premiere mountaineering expedition leaders. He specializes in climbs of Mount Everest and the other classic 8,000-meter peaks in the Himalayas.

Molenaar has been a guide on Mount Rainier and has been on major expeditions to peaks such as K2. He also is the author of “The Challenge of Rainier,” considered the definitive work on the climbing history of Mount Rainier.

The Tacoma Mountaineers Climbing Wall Dinner is set for 6:30 p.m. on April 11 at The Program Center, 2302 N. 30th St., Tacoma.

Tickets for the event are $40 each and are available (with a service fee) at brownpapertickets.com/event/348277.