Vassar Donates Waterfront Site for Community Boathouse

–Hudson River site lynchpin to new public facility for high school and adult rowers, a boon to Poughkeepsie waterfront revitalization

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (November 16, 2004) — Vassar College president Frances D. Fergusson and Hudson River Rowing Association (HRRA) president Andrew J. Mauer signed today a no-cost lease for the site of the new HRRA community boathouse, a 5-acre riverfront parcel that Vassar owns in the Town of Poughkeepsie. To date more than $2.7 million in private and public support has been committed to the boathouse, which will become the center for rowing programs in and around Dutchess County, including all eight of the county's high school rowing programs. Plans for the boathouse relied on Vassar's offer of the donated land, and were recently approved by the Town of Poughkeepsie planning board.

The parcel donated by Vassar College is part of fifteen acres on the Hudson River waterfront that the college purchased in 1995, stretching between the Longview Park property owned by Marist College and the former Dutton Lumber Yard property. Vassar purchased the entire fifteen acres for $868,000, and made immediate improvements to the long-neglected property. The college's remaining ten acres on the waterfront now include facilities for the burgeoning Vassar men's and women's rowing programs. Vassar has also been sharing a portion of its facilities with the Spackenkill High School rowing program, which will move to the new community boathouse.

"We steward this land with great care, and we're very proud to donate it to such a meaningful community initiative," said Vassar president Frances Fergusson. HRRA president Andrew Mauer added, "The money we've raised shows how much the boathouse will mean to our community, but without this gift of a Hudson waterfront site the project would have remained on the drawing board."

The Arlington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Jay, Our Lady of Lourdes, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Roy Ketcham and Spackenkill high school rowing programs will all be able to make their homes at the new facility, representing roughly seventy percent of the county's public high school student population. Most of these high school programs are due to be displaced from facilities they currently lease, and the others operate out of strictly temporary facilities.

The project also will create a new "Boathouse Row Walking Trail" along the waterfront, which will expand public access to New York State's Hudson River Greenway Trail from Longview Park to the southern tip of the property. "Vassar and Marist have been making steady improvements to this section of the Poughkeepsie waterfront," said Elizabeth Eismeier, Vice President for Finance and Administration at Vassar. "The community boathouse will be another important step forward for waterfront revitalization and public enjoyment of the Hudson."

In addition to ensuring the long tradition of high school and community rowing in the area, the HRRA boathouse will provide opportunities for new scholastic and adult programs. With architecture modeled after the historic Cornell Boathouse that stands slightly to the north on the Hudson, the new community facility will store more than 80 rowing shells and support equipment, and an adjacent training building will include an indoor rowing tank.

Support to date for the new community boathouse has come from the Hudson River Rowing Association Board of Directors, Empire State Development Corporation, Dutchess County Industrial Development Association, Dyson Foundation, McCann Foundation, Jeannette F. Schlobach Charitable Trust, Jane W. Nuhn Charitable Trust and the Millbrook Tribute Garden. Construction of the facilities is scheduled to begin in the early spring of 2005.

The Hudson River Rowing Association is a not-for-profit member and volunteer supported organization that serves the general public in and surrounding Dutchess County. Through its rowing programs, community outreach, scholarships, and support of eight local high schools, the HRRA annually serves over 500 area residents.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861. Vassar competes in 25 NCAA Division III men's and women's sports in the Liberty League (formerly the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association) and the East Coast Athletic Conference.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Tuesday, November 16th, 2004.