BoathouseCRI




	Boathouse For All Campaign I. BOATHOUSE FOR ALL CAMPAIGN • Need for the New Boathouse • CRI 2007 Annual Report • Campaign Steering Committee • Donate Now II. DESCRIPTION OF NEW BOATHOUSE • Location, Size and Building Overview • Images of Boathouse III. GIVING OPPORTUNITIES • Naming Opportunities • Make a gift • Contact the Campaign IV. RECENT CAMPAIGN EVENTS • May 22^nd Groundbreaking Ceremony • Summer 2007 photos from the construction site




	l. Need for the Boathouse The Community Rowing (CRI) “Boathouse For All Campaign” provides an extraordinary opportunity to invest in one of the most outstanding projects in the history of the Charles River. The new CRI boathouse could be the last major addition to the Charles in our lifetime, keeping the river open to the public and extending its possibilities to thousands of individuals each year. Community Rowing and the Greater Boston community are at a critical point concerning the issue of full access to the Charles River. After 20 years of providing exceptional rowing programs to the public from the Daly Skating Rink in Newton, CRI will lose its base of operations beginning October 2007. The loss of this facility means public rowing on the Charles River will no longer exist. The nine other boathouses on the Charles are private and therefore not open to the public. Presently, 49% of all rowing programs on the Charles are housed or operated by Community Rowing, yet CRI is the only organization without a permanent facility. Investment in CRI’s Boathouse for All Campaign is a once in a life time opportunity that will insure the Charles River remains open to the public and that the sport of rowing continues to impact and empower people’s lives. The successful completion of a new CRI boathouse will provide the infrastructure and accessibility needed to strengthen current programs and build new ones-truly realizing CRI’s mission of providing “rowing for all”. Should a new boathouse not be built CRI’s current member base and future generations of both traditional and non-traditional rowers would be locked out of rowing and learning to row on the Charles River forever. An investment in Community Rowing’s “Boathouse for All Campaign” will create a permanent home on the Charles River for public rowing and provide ongoing opportunities for deserving youth and adults to engage in rowing—a sport that changes lives. Why should the philanthropic community invest in this effort to build a state of the art facility dedicated to public rowing? There are two overarching reasons: 1)Community Rowing offers exceptional programming for underserved populations. In addition to its highly respected fee-based programs for youth and adults, CRI offers several outstanding programs for individuals who would not have access to the sport of rowing under any other circumstances. These programs, which are offered at no cost to participants, include: G-ROW BOSTON — (Girls-Row) is a model youth development program that reaches 200 girls from the Boston public schools. G-ROW combines rigorous after-school rowing with relationship-building, leadership development and academic support. Gifts to the campaign will create a permanent home for G-ROW and strengthen the academic component of the program by building a classroom in the new boathouse for year-round tutoring. Adaptive — For 20 years CRI has been providing adaptive equipment and dedicated volunteer support to hundreds of youth and adults with disabilities so they too may safely learn to row. The most notable of these adaptive programs is CRI’s partnership with the Perkins School for the Blind, which for the past 10 years has introduced visually impaired students to the rhythms and rigors of the sport. The new boathouse and surrounding grounds will be fully outfitted for visually and physically challenged users, enabling us to significantly enhance our adaptive programming and accommodate individuals who cannot currently access the river. Summer Outreach — Each summer, CRI offers free introductory rowing programs for low-income youth and children with physical and intellectual challenges. By partnering with the Boston Centers for Youth and Families and local special needs programs, CRI offers groups of children the opportunity to explore the Charles under the expert guidance of CRI’s highly trained coaches. CRI is committed to expanding its outreach activities once the new boathouse is built, to increase the number of children recruited through the Boston Public Schools and community centers. 2) CRI's new boathouse will dramatically enhance the public parkland along the Charles River – aesthetically, environmentally, and for its users. The Charles River is a treasure, and it is under-utilized and under-appreciated along the upper banks where the new boathouse will be built. The CRI boathouse site will transform a forgotten stretch of river into a thriving destination for park users. CRI’s new boathouse will be an open and beautiful facility located in the Brighton area, designed to complement and reflect the river on which it will sit. Successful completion of the boathouse will aesthetically enhance the area and benefit the neighboring area by: • Revitalizing an underused and unsightly portion of the riverbank. The site is currently an eyesore and is being used as a staging area for a construction project; • Providing a publicly accessible rest and recreation area for park users, which will respect the beauty of the river while enhancing and protecting the waterfront. • Redistributing traffic along the riverfront. By providing a draw in the Allston/Brighton area of the river, shifting users up-river and away from the over used areas in the city; • Providing a community room overlooking the river for public events and functions. II. DESCRIPTION OF NEW BOATHOUSE Location, Size, and Building Overview The Community Rowing Boathouse will be located in Brighton on a 3-acre parcel of land currently being used as a staging area for a construction site. Locating the boathouse at this site will dramatically enhance this underutilized section of the river and reduce stress on the lower portion of the Charles by attracting users to the Brighton-Allston area. The boathouse footprint will be 20,000 square feet with an overall square footage of 30,000. This design will hold 129 boats of various sizes and configurations which will allow for some future growth of CRI within the constraints of river usage. As presently planned the facility also will accommodate one or two external programs, colleges or high school programs who without such access would have to eliminate or curtail their rowing programs. The new facility will provide space for all administrative functions of CRI, including staff and coaching offices and a boat bay for repairs. In addition, the facility will include a public function and multi-purpose room with a catering kitchen, two classrooms, a weight room, showers and lockers. The multi-purpose room will be available to the public for events and functions. None of these features are available at the present site. For Images of the New Boathouse, please click here siteplan (aerial view) or floor plan. -Boathouse Location on Charles River -Boathouse View From Entry Drive -Waterfront View -Main Entrance -Construction Site -Start of the Foundation III. GIVING OPPORTUNITIES Community Rowing respectfully invites you to review the below naming opportunities and support CRI’s efforts to build the only boathouse on the Charles River dedicated to public access and the sport of rowing. We offer a variety of individual, family, team, and corporate giving opportunities to help our members and donors commit to this historical project. Please click here for a PDF of a list of naming opportunities. CONTACT THE CAMPAIGN If you would like to request additional campaign materials, have any questions or would like to make a gift to the campaign please contact Maura Walsh Hammer, Director of Development at 617.923.7561 or by email at maura@communityrowing. Please mail donations to: “Boathouse for All Campaign” Community Rowing, Inc 600 Pleasant Street Watertown, MA 02472 You may also DONATE NOW online. IV. RECENT CAMPAIGN EVENTS -Groundbreaking Ceremony Press Release -Groundbreaking Ceremony Photos -Summer 2007 photos from the construction site
600 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA