New $6 million boathouse gets city commission approval

By Dylan Schoonover

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The Kansas rowing team moved one step closer to its own facility July 17.

The Lawrence City Commission approved a measure that allows city staff to continue negotiations with Kansas Athletics about the planned student-funded boathouse near the Kansas River, which is expected to cost nearly $6 million.

The new building will serve as a storage area for boats and provide a locker room and a training facility for the 72-member team. University leaders promised to build the rowing team this facility when it began competing at varsity status in 1995.

Commissioner Mike Amyx said completing a new state-of-the-art building on the riverfront would enhance the park along the river.

“There is always safety issues by the river and at night it is dark along there,” Amyx said. “The new facility with the new lighting will bring a sense of safety and security to the area.”

Construction on the new facility will be funded by a student fee referendum passed in the spring of 2006. Under the terms of the referendum, students will contribute $4 million to the project. That referendum also calls for Kansas Athletics Inc. to cover any additional costs of the construction.

Head coach Rob Catloth said having a boathouse will contribute to the team’s success for years to come. He said the new facility will have a substantial impact on the women’s rowing team as well as the Student Recreation and Fitness Center crew team.

“It will give a feeling of a home base,” Catloth said. “It will serve as a point of team unity and certainly boost our recruiting abilities, which is an ease to running a program.”

Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said KAI expects to contribute around $1 million for the project. He said that money would come from private fund raising.

Design plans show that the building will have two stories, and has also been designed to handle potential flooding according to FEMA’s standards. The first floor will contain boat storage only.

Catloth said the new boathouse would hold 72 boats on its ground level with rowing machines and locker rooms allocated to the second level. The crew team will share the boathouse facilities with the women’s varsity squads, Catloth said.

The next step for the project is for the University to receive approval to lease part of the park. It must also receive approval from the Planning Commission and eventually the city commission. The city commission did not release a date for these next steps but they are expected to be approved soon.

—Edited by Ben Smith

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