Boating club
is in hot water

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

After years of slicing through the choppy Schuylkill River atop racing shells with little but their oars and defiance for physical pain, local scholastic rowers may find themselves up a creek without a paddle for their upcoming spring regatta season.
On Jan. 25, the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections and the Fairmount Park Commission evicted members of the Father Judge, Northeast Catholic and La Salle high school rowing teams, as well as those from Temple University, from their longtime boathouse on the Schuylkill because of the facility’s deteriorating condition.
All four teams have used the East Park Canoe House — commonly known as the Canoe Club — for decades, storing their boats and other equipment there under an informal agreement with the park commission, which owns the building and the ground on which it sits.
But with the facility now condemned, the teams are scrambling to find alternate accommodations in time for the scheduled Feb. 18 start of the season. The future of their history-rich programs may even hang in the balance.
"Having to struggle all of the time and then running into an enormous obstacle like this doesn’t encourage you to keep going," Phil Roche, the longtime Father Judge head coach, said Friday, one day after a meeting of team coaches, park officials and city inspectors.
"I’m not the type of person who will just walk away from something, but I can’t give you a long-term answer."
The facility is on Kelly Drive, near the Strawberry Mansion Bridge, about a half-mile upstream from Boathouse Row. Built in 1915, the main part of the building is two stories and features changing rooms, public rest rooms, a storage loft and a terra-cotta roof. Also, there are outlying boat bays that are one story and provide shelter and security for additional equipment. It is the only publicly owned boathouse in the city.
According to Barry Bessler, chief of staff for the park commission’s executive director, Mark Focht, L&I found numerous safety hazards during an inspection of the building that prompted the Jan. 25 notice. The roof is partially collapsed and in danger of further collapse, Bessler said. Also, the second-story floor is in danger of collapse, while walls in the building are deteriorating structurally.
The park commission called in L&I after maintenance workers saw the leaking roof in the main portion of the building, Bessler said.
Those familiar with the facility agree that its worsening condition has long been a matter of common knowledge. Roche and Temple head coach Gavin White claim that the occupant teams have tried to fix it up a bit over the years. But their efforts were focused on appearance, not costly structural or roof repairs.
Judge’s program dates to the mid-1960s, while North originally began rowing in 1929. The Falcons later discontinued the sport, then reorganized a team in the late 1970s.
"All of the groups have done a little work on the inside to try to improve the situation over the years," said White, whose Temple team includes several former Judge rowers.
"Fifteen years ago, we re-did the walls, painted and carpeted. Our parents did that for both our side (of the building) and Temple’s," Roche said.
Leaking rainwater soon ruined the job, however. At one point, the Judge coach claims, his program offered to organize an effort to repair the roof with donated materials and labor. But the park commission insisted that costly terra-cotta be used instead of more affordable materials, he said.
Bessler, the park official, said he is unaware of any work performed by the teams on the facility, but noted that they have been allowed to occupy it without a lease and free of charge for years.
Proper maintenance of the boathouse, like other park properties including Memorial Hall, has been challenged for years by limited park system funding.
In light of the recent meeting, Roche holds out hope that the Crusaders and their counterparts may be allowed to continue using the single-story boat bays. The coach expects to hear again from city inspectors late this week.
The park commission is starting a lengthier study of the building to determine the full extent of the damage and prospects for short-term, mid-range and long-range repair. The assessment will take eight to 10 weeks. The park commission has no plans for the facility beyond the assessment, according to Bessler.
"We’re not embarking on any of that," he said. "We need to determine if the building can be safe and habitable again before we determine the future use."
Disappointed about the timing of the eviction, Judge and the other teams have been forced to prepare for the worst-case scenario — that is, not being allowed back into the Canoe Club for years, if ever.
One option for the clubs is to store their boats and equipment outdoors nearby protected by a fence. That way, rowers would still have access to the dock and boat launch. But Roche is skeptical of keeping tens of thousands of dollars in equipment exposed to the elements and potential vandals.
Another option is to find room in a private boathouse elsewhere. Unfortunately, boathouses are generally packed to the rafters already, local rowing officials say. Also, annual rents can be $10,000 or more.
"The cost is probably going to have to fall on the schools individually," Roche said.
A third option is to transport boats to and from the river every day, but that’s highly impractical with the busy schedule of the rowing season.
Judge, for example, practices six days a week, two hours a day, not including travel time. The team competes virtually every Saturday from Presidents Day to Memorial Day. Most of the regattas are on the Schuylkill, but the team’s top boat, varsity fours, will travel as far as Cincinnati for national competitions.
Locally, both Judge and North compete in Catholic League and citywide high school championships, as well as the Stotesbury Cup, the largest high school regatta in the nation.
The local high schools have produced numerous rowers who have gone on to successful college careers and to compete on the international level.
The top rower on the current Judge team, senior Chris Lutz, competed on the United States eights boat at the junior world championships in Bejing last summer. The team placed fifth. Lutz’s top college choices include Syracuse, Drexel and Temple. He expects to earn an athletic scholarship.
He believes that the Canoe Club has been vital to his and Judge’s rowing success. "We couldn’t be what we are now without the Canoe Club," Lutz said.
Roche believes that the sport helps develop high achievers both on and off of the water.
"Once they’re involved, with the time management and discipline, they end up being some of the best students in the school," the coach said. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com