Old Lyme is among the 14 towns that have been awarded a grant under the state’s Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) to support economic development, community conservation and quality of life projects.

The Town of Old Lyme plans to use its $478,000 to expand and renovate the Fred Emerson Boathouse at Hains Park on Rogers Lake.  The finished boathouse will be ADA-accessible, along with bathrooms, showers, a workout/training room, and a space to maintain and repair equipment  properly.  Grant money will also be utilized to obtain a new shell rack storage system and new oar racks, as well as rehabilitate the docks.

The namesake of the boathouse, Fred Emerson, was the “Johnny Appleseed” of rowing in the northeast, donating his own boats to start public high school rowing in Old Lyme.  Fifty years later, Old Lyme now supports a thriving rowing community.

“Our rowers are not just from Old Lyme,” says  the president of the Old Lyme Rowing Association (OLRA) Greg Hack.  “We have people coming from East Lyme, Old Saybrook, Chester, Montville, Avon, and Stonington just to use our boathouse.”

Rowers outside the Fred Emerson Boathouse on Rogers lake in Old Lyme.  Photo by Tyler Lian.

Along with funding and buying boats for the high school varsity program — known as the Blood Street Sculls — OLRA sponsors learn to row, fitness rowing, and competitive club programs for both youth and adults.  Altogether, over 150 individuals from ages 12 to 70+ participate in the OLRA and Regional School District 18 rowing programs that run from early spring to late fall.  Hundreds more have joined to row on Rogers Lake for OLRA-hosted regattas.

In order to support the growing popularity of these rowing programs, the boathouse needs to be expanded to safely store the rowing shells and related equipment.  The current size of the boathouse does not facilitate the passage of boats in and out of the boating bays, and poses a high risk of hazardous collisions between both boats and rowers.  Given the cost of the rowing shells, from $10,000 up to over $30,000, repairs are costly.

In addition, a larger boathouse will allow for an indoor exercise area and bathrooms.  Currently, rowers need to move the exercise machines outside to train, and have to use a separate rest room facility in the park.  With an improved boathouse, OLRA and Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) also hope to add adaptive rowing to their programs, a sport that has been included in the Paralympic Games for nearly a decade.

The Fred Emerson Boathouse is the launch pad for many of the strongest rowers in the state and in the nation.  This year, the LOLHS boy’s crew team had one of the best seasons in their history, taking gold medals in both the 1st and 2nd Four finals at state finals and then qualifying three boats for the New England Championships.  It is not unusual for Old Lyme’s high school rowers to be recruited to premier rowing programs at colleges such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Georgetown, and Cornell.

A preliminary design for the new Boathouse

“It is amazing how many great athletes have rowed on our lake,” remarks Candace Fuchs, secretary of the OLRA.

Andrew Bolton, LOLHS Class of 1998, was a member of both the US National and US Olympic Teams, participated as an alternate at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Austin Hack, LOLHS Class of 2010, rowed to Gold Medal victories at the Junior and U23 levels in both 2010 and 2011.  He was one of 23 athletes invited to the 2012 Men’s National Team Sweep Camp.

A former Blood Street Sculls rower, Sarah Trowbridge, rowed for the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and can still be found training on Rogers Lake on any given day.

“The success of Old Lyme’s rowing programs is a joint effort by the Town of Old Lyme, OLRA and Regional School District 18,” says Fuchs.  “The town manages the land, while OLRA and District 18 manage the boathouse.  By working together, we create something that benefits the whole community.”

The OLRA wishes to express their gratitude to former Old Lyme First Selectman Tim Griswold and Old Lyme’s current Board of Selectmen, Bonnie Reemsnyder, Mary Jo Nosal, and Skip Sibley, for helping and supporting the Boathouse project.  The OLRA also wishes to thank Olympian Rower Anita DeFrantz, another elite athlete who has rowed in Old Lyme, for writing a Letter of Endorsement to show her support for the renovation.

The renovation will begin after the building design is confirmed and the required land use approvals are received.  The actual building construction will take six months.

For more information about the Old Lyme Rowing Association, visit their website at www.oldlymerowing.org.