 
Leland_palmer
Member
Username: Leland_palmer
Post Number: 378
Registered: 08-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 7:31 am: |    |
"The Friends group, which maintains the building in lieu of paying rent to the city of Detroit, says it can't keep up with repairs and is looking to move out. The group has proposed building a boathouse on five acres of adjacent Belle Isle property -- a smaller home that will be for rowing only and far more manageable."
http://detroitnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20070920/M ETRO/709200381&theme=Metro-Det roit-Belle-Isle |
Michigansheik
Member
Username: Michigansheik
Post Number: 233
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 7:47 am: | |
sad sad sad.
that could be on hot destination, riverside restaurant/club/hall with boat slips and such.
i rowed there from 92-94, it was rough then. |
Mdoyle
Member
Username: Mdoyle
Post Number: 209
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 8:57 am: | |
Does anyone know what sort of deal was put together between the city and the rowers that allowed them to use the building without paying rent. Could we (dyes) get a group together in a similar arrangement to continue maintenance? I have little money but plenty of spirit and am not afraid of hard work. If it is possible would anyone be interested in putting in time and money into upkeep and restoration? How does renting the building out work for the friends group? can they at all since the building is owned by the city? |
Rjk
Member
Username: Rjk
Post Number: 857
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 9:13 am: | |
"But it has been years since these rooms were used to their potential. And in the meantime, despite roughly $250,000 pumped into the building by Friends of Detroit Rowing, the deterioration has spread."
Mdoyle, that's going to be a tough sell. After $250,000 jacked into the boat club they're now talking about putting up another building at a cost of just over $1,000,0000. They know the place inside and out and are ready to give up on it.
(Message edited by rjk on September 20, 2007) |
Mdoyle
Member
Username: Mdoyle
Post Number: 210
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 9:43 am: | |
Over how many years has there been $250,000 put into it? I'm so happy that the rowers have used the building and done work on it to keep it from crumbling but it looks as if their ready to pass the torch. They have other priorities that the upkeep and repairs on the club have most likely gotten in the way of. You need to have a group dedicated solely to the upkeep and investment. Unfortunately the building was just to big for their needs. I'm sure it'll be a tough sell but it never hurts to ask. |
Dougw
Member
Username: Dougw
Post Number: 1897
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 12:10 pm: | |
True, if it's $250K spread over the last 15-20 years, that's not a huge amount for such a building.
Your best bet might be to talk to the rowers, attend a Friends of Belle Isle meeting and see if you can recruit enough people to form some sort of boat club conservancy organization which would take over the existing free-rent+maintenance agreement with the city. Of course, that all depends on whether the rowing club actually moves out and builds their building.
Anyone know how big the boat club building is? I've been there, I'd guess maybe 30,000 square feet? $23 million sounds like a pull-out-all-the-stops renovation, I doubt nearly that much would be needed to incrementally improve it. |
Mdoyle
Member
Username: Mdoyle
Post Number: 211
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 2:19 pm: | |
that sort of what I had in mind. Incremental improvements are key and the first on any list for preservation should always be a new roof. The buildings exterior looks far worse than it may actually be. The problem being that when water gets behind stucco and ice dams in the winter it begins to pull away. At the very least if the roof is leaking badly then tarps need to be placed to provide at least some barrier to the elements. Many people are afraid to take on projects themselves such as restoration and repair work. The first thing many do (not all) is have estimates from companies who will redo everything themselves. A ton of cost is saved when you DIY. If you dont know how to fix something ask around, look it up and learn how to do it yourself. |
Bob_cosgrove
Member
Username: Bob_cosgrove
Post Number: 573
Registered: 03-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 4:49 pm: | |
The correct name for the building is the Detroit Boat Club, not the Detroit Boat House.
Bob Cosgrove |
Vanessam
Member
Username: Vanessam
Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 5:01 pm: | |
doyle,
you need a purpose to get funding to fix it up.....
(Message edited by vanessam on September 20, 2007) |
Lilpup
Member
Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 2802
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 2:28 am: | |
The "Detroit Boat Club" packed up and moved to Grosse Pointe, that's why Friends of Detroit Rowing can't use the name - Detroit Boathouse works. All those along the Charles and the Schuylkill are Boathouses.
Detroit rowing needs a sugar daddy. More than any other sport, rowing teaches teamwork and discipline along with personal responsibility.
When I rowed in college we had to take care of our own equipment, too. The kids of Detroit could really benefit from the training crew provides, and rowing has long been in Detroit's history.
I wish a local benefactor (or group of) would adopt the rowing club just like the Bodines have adopted the US bobsled team. The difference it could make in the kids who participated would be more than worth it.
And there's not even a dam to be swept over here like there is at Boathouse Row in Philly  |
Lilpup
Member
Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 2803
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 2:38 am: | |
Additional thought: Wayne State used to have a crew - maybe they should have one again and take the lead on the building. They can lease space to the Friends, other individuals who want to row out of there, use the building for fundraisers, etc.
In Ann Arbor now a number of rowing organizations work out of the pole barn boathouse we used to use. There was (still is?) even a handicapped rowing program that used catamaran style boats.
(I recently learned one of my old boatmates is a hotshot now at Butzel Long - someone needs to go hit her up.) |
Irish_mafia
Member
Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 1044
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 4:25 pm: | |
Lilpup,
Regarding teaching rowing to the city' youth, I believe that Brian Benz, profiled in Lowell's piece on the boat club, is still doing that today.
Regarding a Sugar Daddy, that's the real crime here, there are a number of them ready to step up if only the city will commit to a reasonable, long term lease so that they are not throwing good money after bad.
The problem is the city, on this issue, continues to act about as effectively as the old Coleman Young administration...waiting for that big, pocket lining plan to arrive (which of course never does).
So, they let the home of the oldest rowing organization in the world rot, just as they have done to the oldest Aquarium in North America. |
Lefty2
Member
Username: Lefty2
Post Number: 182
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 8:51 pm: | |
i say turn the boat club into a casino. that will pay for the rowing |
Lilpup
Member
Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 2805
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 9:03 pm: | |
If you've ever seen the boathouses back east, some of them are incredible. Often they host formal affairs and social events. |
Irish_mafia
Member
Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 1045
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007 - 11:50 pm: | |
Lilpup,
I understand. As you know, the internal facilities in DBC are still magnificent.
So, How do you get the city off the dime?
Because, without a plan to do that, all the dreaming means nothing. |
Lilpup
Member
Username: Lilpup
Post Number: 2806
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 12:11 am: | |
How were the DIA, DHS, and Zoo agreements worked out? I wouldn't say those were big, pocket lining plans, except shedding maintenance costs and employees at the zoo.
Is it a matter of putting a good package together and selling it to the City? Obviously both sides want to protect their interests, so what does the city really want in order to make a deal - maybe a guarantee that some public programs are run out of it so that it won't become a snobby, exclusive enclave? Or some tie-in with school sports? How about a DPS citywide crew - they can go out and whomp Orchard Lake St. Mary's and the Ann Arbor schools.
well, in a few years, maybe...
How about a sailing team or club out of the Yacht Club while we're at it, too?
It just seems like a lot of kids never get to actually get out on the water instead of just looking across it from shore. The swan boats are a baby step in the right direction.
(Message edited by lilpup on September 22, 2007) |
Gnome
Member
Username: Gnome
Post Number: 85
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, September 22, 2007 - 7:22 am: | |
Who here thinks Penske should move his racing HQ onto the island and into the Boat House.
He "owns" the island anyway and would have the resources to re-hab the Boat House; he has proven himself to be an effective leader and a solid citizen. The city could get the thing back on the tax roles, Penske could have the premier location to do his thing, and the visitors wouldn't have to look at a crumbling piece of history. |
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