Purdue News
Purdue News
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April 4, 2000 Rowing club raising money for Wabash River complexWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Crew Club has launched a campaign to build a $3.5 million rowing complex on the West Lafayette bank of the Wabash River.
The proposed 25,000-square-foot facility will be constructed near the John T. Myers Pedestrian-Bicycle Bridge on the West Lafayette side of the Wabash. It will replace a 19-year-old crew structure, located near South River Road about three miles south of the city. "Since it is planned for the downtown area, it becomes part of the whole redevelopment effort along that stretch of the river," said head coach David W. Kucik. "It will change the feel of the river, and the community will be able to watch the crew team practice and compete in the downtown area." When completed in the summer of 2002, the facility will join other recent improvements along the river, including the Wabash Heritage Trail, the James F. Riehle Plaza and the Wabash Landing retail and residential project. "The new complex will be architecturally harmonious with the current downtown area, and I think it will become a symbol for the university," Kucik said. "It's right next to the Purdue campus, so it provides our crew members with a central location. This also is a very important move for our program, because we have outgrown the physical limitations of our current facility, and it will also bring greater visibility to what we do." The site plans also include a training facility, storage and repair areas, docks, and an observation tower. Spectators along the river also will have a better view of crew events and races, because it creates a straight 2,000-meter water run between the U.S. 52 Bridge and the former Brown Street Bridge. "The river is smooth in that section, and that will be a big help with the races," Kucik said. The 50-year-old crew program is a club sport, but the men's and women's teams regularly compete at the intercollegiate level. The teams have won four Midwestern Championships, six Southern Championships, five Dad Vail National Championship races and the Visitor's Cup Race, and the men's team defeated the Oxford Men's Varsity Heavyweight Eight in 1987. Currently there are about 150 Purdue crew members, about 55 percent male and 45 percent female. "The crew members work hard to participate in this sport, because not only do they have to train, they are also self-supporting and self-governing," Kucik said. "They have to do a lot of fund-raising and pay a $1,500 annual fee. The average student-athlete commits 750 hours an academic year to crew. I'm proud to be associated with them. If they lack anything, it's recognition, and this move with help change that. Now we just need to raise the funds for this new facility." Funding for the project is expected to come from a number of private sources, including former crew members. "There's strong support for this from crew alumni, and we'll certainly solicit from them," said volunteer campaign chairman Larry Tolle, an alumnus crew member who lives in Atlanta, Ind. "There are about 1,800 of them, and one thing we know is that being a member of crew takes a lot of dedication. Those who are, or have been, involved with the crew program are strong supporters." Kucik said he also has found support within the Greater Lafayette community for the project, and the area will benefit from the program. "The new complex will create more opportunities for us to foster interest in crew through youth programs, courses for the physically challenged and other groups," Kucik said. The expanded crew project will bring economic benefits as well. "Purdue hosts two or three regattas every year, and when we do that we usually bring in 70 to 100 students for the weekend, plus their parents and other supporters," he said. "This new crew complex will definitely have a positive financial impact on this area." The Purdue Crew Club's next regatta is the "Battle of Tippecanoe," scheduled for Saturday, April 8, behind Tapawingo Park along the Wabash River near the site of the proposed new crew complex. Teams of rowers from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University, Butler University and Wabash College are expected to participate. Sources: David W. Kucik, (765) 494-3121, dwk@rsc.purdue.edu Larry Tolle, (765) 292-2555, ltolle@ccrrc.com Writer: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 494-2073, csequin@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu PHOTO CAPTION:
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