New Bedford, Boston rowing group partner in new venture
By Brian R. Ballou
Globe Staff / November 20, 2009
Against a backdrop of sleek racing shells stacked in a boathouse along the Charles River, Mayor Scott Lang of New Bedford announced yesterday that his city has teamed with Community Rowing Inc. to help bring the sport of rowing to the murky Acushnet River - and to the lives of the city’s schoolchildren and residents.
The six-month partnership is the first leg of a three-year, $40 million plan Lang conceived to create a top-level rowing course on the Acushnet, with amenities such as a boathouse, launch deck, and observation areas on the river’s banks.
“This will be an economic stimulus for us, and improve the quality of life,” Lang said, standing in front of the Community Rowing boathouse in Brighton, considered by the US Rowing Association to be one of the best programs in the country. “It’s about getting people outside, involved in their environment, reconnecting New Bedford to an important part of its history: its river.”
Rowing, he added, is part of the region’s unsung past. It was one of the first organized amateur sports in New Bedford, and the Acushnet was rowed upon 125 to 150 years ago, he said.
The river is undergoing a massive cleanup, necessary because in the mid-1900s, industries tossed tons of hazardous material into New Bedford Harbor, creating one of the most polluted coves in the country. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has been dredging the river since 2000, will remain there for at least another decade.
EPA officials and representatives from the state’s Department of Health said at yesterday’s press conference that although sediment remains a concern, rowers participating in the sport under normal guidelines would not face undue health risks.
Lang wants to create a rowing haven that would stand out as one of the region’s best.
Nature has already laid out a perfectly calm mile-and-a-half course, north of the Coggshall Bridge, and a 1,200 meter course south of the bridge is the type that, if built from scratch, would cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars, rowing specialists say. The river has natural barriers to wind, and there is enough riverbank to accommodate the expansion of mixed-use and retail space, in addition to parking lots and viewing areas. The harbor is easily accessible, just off Interstate 195.
The city has already built an enhanced off-ramp from the highway, laid sidewalks, and installed street lighting, and a project is underway to restore the river banks.
Launch ramps have been built and groundbreaking for the boathouse, which will be based on designs by MIT students, is expected next year. The entire project is funded by private foundations, state grants, and in-kind donations from the city.
Matthew A. Morrissey, executive director of the New Bedford Economic Development Council, said the investment will probably see huge returns to the city, creating jobs and attracting spectators during special rowing events.
Bruce Smith, executive director of Community Rowing Inc., said he will visit New Bedford Schools in the coming months to get the word out that in addition to football, basketball, baseball, and other sports, rowing is an option.
In introducing rowing to schools in Boston, Smith said the largest hurdles that students have faced were transportation to the river and learning how to swim. “I think we may see that in New Bedford as well. I bring those rowing machines with me into the hallways, and I talk with athletic directors and coaches, to let them know that we aren’t looking for their top athletes, we want anyone.”
Chyrel Gallagher, 60, a Community Rowing member, said she got involved in the sport five years ago. After an early morning row yesterday on the Charles River, she said, “This is a wonderful sport for people of all ages to get involved in.”
http://www.boston.com/sports/outdoors/articles/2009/11/20/new_bedford_boston_rowing_group_partner_in_new_venture/
