The Saratoga Rowing Association has been producing championship rowing teams for years, and now has an administrative home that lives up to its reputation.
The association on Wednesday evening unveiled its new $1.25 million Regatta and Training Center on Route 9P next to the mouth of the lake, built over the last year across the road from its current facility.
The 5,000-square-foot two-story building will offer more room for training and to administer the major regattas held on Fish Creek.
But it also has a dozen bedrooms upstairs where nationally ranked rowers can stay while training locally for the Olympics and other competitions, and mentoring local high school student rowers.
“To me, one of the most exciting things is how many different purposes it can serve,” said Eric Catalano, executive director of the rowing association.
He said the new rowing center is needed because of the organization’s growth since it was established in 1996. Today, more than 500 students and adults participate, and the association sponsors five regattas per year, in which teams travel hundreds of miles to compete, generally lodging locally.
“The economic impact of rowing, people don’t realize how huge it is. It’s in the millions of dollars,” said Kathleen Fyfe, a vice president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
The association estimates the impact of Head of the Fish and other regattas at nearly $9 million annually.
“We have the second-largest regatta in the country right here in Saratoga Springs,” said Mayor Joanne Yepsen, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Yepsen said both her grown children were rowers. “It’s an incredible club and an incredible family-building experience,” she said.
While the project received a $42,000 state economic development grant, the majority of the money for the new center was raised locally, from Adirondack Trust Co., Stewart’s Shops, and other major donors, as well as member families.
The second floor will provide living space for elite rowers under a program called Arion, for Advanced Rowing Initiative Of the Northeast. It will provide training and accommodations for post-collegiate Olympic-hopeful athletes from all over the United States, who will train and serve as models for younger rowers.
“Our goal is to have a positive impact on the lives of kids,” Catalano said.
Saratoga County Court Judge James A. Murphy III began rowing as an adult in 2001, and later his two daughters rowed on high school championship teams.
“It builds great confidence in kids,” Murphy said. “This is also building recognition for Saratoga Springs for something besides horse racing.”
“It holds a significant spot in my life,” said Noah Parslow of Saratoga Springs, a recent high school graduate who has rowed since eighth grade. “Most of my best friends are from rowing.”
His father, Nick, who owns a marketing and design firm in Saratoga Springs, made an eight-foot-long mosaic mural out of colored glass tile, showing a bird’s eye view of the Fish Creek regatta course. It is on display on the first floor of the training center.
“This will be our regatta headquarters, which in the past has been a mobile home,” Catalano said.
Frost-Hurff Architects and The LA Group, both of Saratoga Springs, designed the facility, which was built by Bonacio Construction.
Organizers said they still need to raise about $60,000 to meet their fundraising goal to pay for the facility.
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