This fall, the rowing team is practicing without a boathouse at New Meadows River. Smith Boathouse was knocked down on August 26 to start the construction of a new boathouse with more amenities.

Smith Boathouse was initially built as a temporary structure to transition the rowing team away from the Androscoggin River almost 20 years ago. The construction of a new boathouse has been long awaited.

Some of the new amenities in the boathouse, which has an expected completion date of early March of 2025, will drastically improve many aspects of the rowing team’s lifestyle according to Head Coach Doug Welling.

“They tell us the building will be ready in the spring for us to put our equipment in, which will be huge for our spring season,” Welling said. “The size will accommodate a greater number of team members coming inside as well, in case we have a weather issue or weather event or are just meeting as a team. The big difference is going to be [that] there are a few bathrooms.”

In the past, rowers and coaches have used outhouses near the boathouse, so the new addition of indoor bathrooms is a big upgrade for the team. Zephyr Gilmore ’25 is excited that the new boathouse will also include a spot for the team to warm up after spending early mornings on the water.

“In the spring, it’s so cold. You can’t wear gloves, and you wear light layers while you’re rowing.  It’s 40 degrees sometimes, so when somebody falls in [the water], having a warm place to put them right away will be really nice,” Gilmore said.

This project has been drawn out over the course of a couple decades, making the final decision to plunge into the project a big deal.

“It was 2008 when they were going to redo that building. But, the economy took a turn at that time, so the construction was put off for a long time. It was just revisited these last few years,” Welling said.

John Simoneau, the director of capital projects at the College, echoed Welling’s statement in an email to the Orient, adding that donations and the support from trustees helped move the project forward this year.

“The project has been in planning on and off for a few years, with several iterations of concept designs considered. The current plan for the project gained traction with support of trustee approval and an anonymous gift in early 2024,” Simoneau wrote.

The project, estimated to be around 2.5 million dollars, is completely funded by donations.

“It was basically all supporters, both parents, former parents and alums, whose generosity is able to make it happen, which is huge. So [we’re] really fortunate to have that incredibly generous donor base to help with such a large project,” Welling said.

Gilmore added that the number of people on the team versus the amount of money used to support the program is staggeringly low compared to some of the varsity teams at the College.

“Our per capita funding is relatively small compared to other teams, because we have 80 plus people. So being able to pull this off is massive,” Gilmore said.

In addition to providing more room for the team to congregate, the boathouse has specialized storage for the boats the team rows almost every day.

“The driving concern was storage of the team’s rowing shells. The program has grown over the more than 20 years since the Smith Boathouse was constructed,” Simoneau wrote. “The old boathouse was designed to store four-person rowing shells, but with the growth of the team, the program is now using eight-person rowing shells.”

The Smith Boathouse was built for smaller boats, making it difficult to fit some of the newer, larger boats inside.

“The size and ability to accommodate our entire fleet of boats and keep them stored safely is important. In the past, boats were outside. They would get hit by acorns, or if any tree branches fell down, there’s potential to damage them,” Welling said.

The eight-person shell boats, made of carbon fiber, weigh around 200 pounds and must be well maintained in order to serve the team’s needs, making outdoor storage suboptimal. Shells are worth a hefty amount of money—almost $60,000 a piece.

“You would want to keep your $60,000 Ferrari in a garage, right, instead of leaving it outside?” Welling said.

While the team will spend the majority of their time outdoors between now and the beginning of March when the project will be done, that does not worry Gilmore.

“When we get [to New Meadows River] we get on the water as soon as possible. And then it’s like, who cares if there’s even a boathouse? We’re on the water,” Gilmore said.