At a special meeting on April 9, the membership of Norwalk River Rowing Association approved the Million Dollar Recapitalization, Renewal and Re-Launch (3R) program. The 3R plan has three components: (1) an increase and refocusing of the staff, (2) the building of a shell house, and (3) the purchase of more equipment. The plan has two goals: (1) to promote a lifelong passion for rowing, regardless of age or income, among as many people in the surrounding community as possible, and (2) to create very successful competitive youth and masters racing teams winning medals at national-level regattas and placing youth into very competitive college rowing programs.
The 3R plan envisions growing our various programs and increasing our outreach, and the whole Norwalk River Rowing community is being asked to introduce friends and acquaintances to the sport of rowing. The 3Rs plan is being funded with a combination of financing and fundraising. Much of the funding is already in place: The association already has a formal loan commitment from Fairfield County Bank and we have already received or been pledged nearly half of our $250,000 fundraising goal.
Most of the staffing plan is already in place. We hired the nationally-known head girls’ coach, Evans Liolin, to join our successful head boys coach, Yuri Kolomiets. Evans is also serving as our Manager of Business Development. Robin Roscillo also joined NRRA as our Executive Director. Finally, we hired a new Facilities Manager, Jason Trimbach, to join our own Coop (Jim Cooper) and are building a great group of assistant and novice coaches. We expect to increase the participation in our learn-to-row and adult programs over time to feed into the competitive racing programs we offer.
Our new truss and fabric shell house will be 6,120 square feet and will have four bays, three for Norwalk River and one for Fairfield University, with room for racks allowing us to stack boats seven high. The project will also include restrooms and shower stalls within the structure. Construction should begin before summer. This represents Phase II of our building program. (Phase I was the preparation of the site, building of the bulkhead and dock, and pouring of the slab.) We envision Phase III as a traditionally constructed building abutting the new shell house with office space, larger locker rooms, and a community room. A temporary structure will provide shelter at the slab during the construction of the shell house.
We expect to place our first order for equipment in mid-May. The coaches and staff are working on a proposed equipment list now, but the list is expected to include boats appropriate for all levels of athletes as well as more prosaic items such as a new boat trailer, replacement riggers, launch equipment, ergs and/or cox boxes. The plan includes another set of purchases in the fall and a third one for the spring of 2016.
Please give to your ability so we may reach our fundraising goals and beyond. Funds raised in the capital campaign will be used to further the 3R plan, including the erection and equipping of the shell house and related site work and the purchase of equipment, and may be used for other long-term needs (such as dredging or seed money for a grant writer or marketing person).
Next year, 2016, will mark the 30th anniversary of the founding of our club. Our history includes some fascinating stories as well as stories of real drama and dedication. We are hoping to capture some of that history for our 30th anniversary celebration next year. Ideas to capture that history include video interviews, a documentary, dedicated web site, and / or self-published book. We’ll need help if we are going to pull that off at the same time as the 3R project. Interested in helping? Let Robin Roscillo or Tom Luz know.
How can you help? Encourage new people to try rowing with Norwalk River. Welcome new people when they come down. Volunteer to help with the many tasks ahead of us. E-mail to Robin for our alumni list (put “alumni contact” in the subject line) contact information for old members or former youth participants. Give money.
Let’s get this done: Recapitalize, Renew and Re-Launch!
