Crew Boathouse
Since the “rebirth” of the Fordham Prep Crew team in 2000, the
program has experienced growth by leaps and bounds. This
past January, another milestone was reached with the
opening of the team’s own boathouse. Located on Long Island
Sound in New Rochelle, the boathouse gives the Prep’s Crew
team an area to store shells during the winter, space for coaches
and rowers, and a ramp where rowers can launch their shells
into the sound. The boathouse itself is shared with Horace
Mann and Iona Prep. As of Spring of 2017, there are over 80
Prep students who participate in Crew.
For many years, the crew team rowed out of Glen Island from
the Pelham Community Rowing Association boathouse. In 2012,
the team expanded to compete in both the fall and spring
seasons, and the team moved to a boathouse in New Rochelle.
This location was short-lived because of flooding in Super Storm
Sandy. Fortunately, Head Crew Coach Larry Muri had left the
boats in Saratoga, where the team had competed the prior
weekend. So the team had boats, but no boathouse.
After the storm, Coach Muri found there were few options
available for a boathouse, but Beckwith Pointe, one of the
beach clubs on Davenport Avenue in New Rochelle, was an
option. The team began rowing out of Beckwith in the spring of
2013 and remained there through the fall of 2016. Beckwith
worked, but the circumstances were not optimal. With no
dock, the boys had to “wet load,” walking into the water to
launch the boats. And with no boathouse, the boats and oars
were stored outside and exposed to the elements, causing
some of the equipment to age quickly.
In 2015, when the team learned that Beckwith Pointe was
under contract to be sold, the need for a new home for the
team was clear and more urgent than ever. After months of
searching, Coach Muri found a waterfront building in New
Rochelle. While not built as a boathouse, the building is
well-suited to serve as one, with large open space and a high
ceiling. Because the space was too large and too expensive for
the Crew team to handle alone, Coach Muri sought other
programs to share the space. A number of teams were
approached as potential co-tenants, but ultimately Horace
Mann and Iona Prep decided to join the venture.
and make other improvements. To reduce the school’s share
of the annual rent, Fordham Prep funded the cost of these
capital improvements. Faced with this challenge, the team
turned to J.D. Calder P ’17, as President of the Parents’
Association Board, to see if the association could help. The
parents readily agreed.
The initial fundraising appeal was made directly to the current
varsity families followed by a letter to the entire Fordham Prep
crew community. The response was overwhelming. Within two
months of kicking off the fundraising efforts, the community
raised over $60,000. More importantly, over 75% of the
current team contributed to the fund. “The parental support
from all levels – from the senior class all the way down to the
freshman class has been unbelievable,” says Anne Calder P
’17, Regatta Coordinator. Donations also came in from a dozen
alumni from the Classes of 2013 to 2016.
The dock and ramp were installed in November of 2016, and
the racks and other interior improvements were completed
the following months. The team officially moved into the
boathouse in January and held an open house for parents and
alumni. In late March 2017, Prep President Fr. Christopher
Devron, SJ officially blessed the boathouse.
“The support of the Fordham Prep crew program has been
just incredible. It’s a tremendous community that banded
together to fund a project which has been years in the making.
It’s a testament to those associated with the crew program,”
said Calder.
One of the biggest hurdles to getting the deal done was the cost
of turning the building into a boathouse. The three schools were
able to pay the rent, but funds were needed for the cost of
necessary improvements. The biggest expense was building a
dock and ramp ($45,000), with an additional $15,000 to $20,000
to install boat racks inside the building, paint the floor and walls,
“This boathouse isn’t just for my son or for the kids currently
on the team. It’s for the families who came before us and the
families who will come after us. It’s for a program which has
given everyone involved so much and will continue to do so
going forward.”
S U M M E R 2017 | 19