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When is a Boathouse Not Just a Boathouse?
New Haven’s new public project is a
community center in disguise.
November/December 2012
by Jennifer Kaylin
Ever since Interstate 95 was built in
the 1950s, New Haven has been largely cut off from its waterfront. But a new
community boathouse will soon make it easier for the public to enjoy the
harbor—and not just in boats.
The boathouse has been in the works
since 1999, when plans to replace the bridge that carries I-95 over the harbor
were finalized. The new bridge required destruction of a historic New Haven
waterfront building; to help compensate for the loss, the state and feds
allocated $30 million for a public boathouse at Long Wharf and other waterfront
improvements.
The demolished building was also
originally a boathouse, built by Yale for its varsity crews in 1911. Just five
years later, the harbor had grown too busy for serious racing, and Yale moved
its varsity boats to the Housatonic River. Yale continued using the
building—the Adee Memorial Boathouse—for intramural crew, but eventually, the
facility was sold and converted to office space.
The new building will incorporate many
salvaged materials from Adee, including an entrance portal, a staircase,
bulldog carvings, and a fireplace. But it will be much more than a boathouse.
The two-story building is designed for multiple community uses, with a terrace,
a catering kitchen, a teaching room, and two large event spaces.
As for the boats, they will be kayaks,
canoes, sailboats, racing shells, and “anything without a motor,” says Karyn
Gilvarg ’75MArch, head of the City Plan Department. Once construction is
complete, around November 2014, the city will lease the building to a nonprofit,
founded to run the facility and keep it financially self-sustaining. The
nonprofit will offer recreational activities for a diverse population, says
Gilvarg, from high school and college-aged students to veterans’ groups and
seniors.
The boathouse is rising on the site of
the former Canal Dock, where the Farmington Canal (and later a railroad line
that took its place) met the harbor in the 1800s. But it will rest on a new
concrete platform, about an acre in size, that will be built out over the water.
So New Haveners will gain not only a waterside community center, but also a
large new public space where they can stroll by the waterfront and enjoy the
view.  |
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