Rendering for proposed Tulsa Rowing Club Boathouse unveiled The Tulsa Rowing Club has released a rendering of its proposed new boathouse on the west bank of the Arkansas River.
The facility will replace the original 1991 boathouse destroyed by arson in 2016.
Designed by Fritz Baily Architects, it will be situated at the same location as the previous structure, across the river from downtown in Tulsa River Parks Authority’s River West Festival Park area, near 21st Street and Jackson Avenue.
The new structure will include three bays to store boats. It also will be taller to allow for an upper-story mezzanine-type workout area.
The estimated cost to replace the boathouse is about $500,000, according to rowing club leaders. The club has enough insurance money to replace a boathouse with the previous warehouse-style design — but not enough for the increased cost of a design that meets the requirements of the city’s new River Design Overlay, which was passed after the boathouse was destroyed.
"The new RDO zoning requirements are great for development along the river, but they make it harder for us to build the same boathouse we built in 1991,” Tulsa Rowing Club member Claudia Brierre said in a statement.
"As a result, we’ve had to adapt our design, and that’s dramatically increased our building costs. With money on hand from insurance, we hope to build a shell of a building with no bathrooms, and probably need $150,000 to complete the boathouse and finish the interior."
If the rowing club were to complete the mezzanine in its updated design, Brierre said, the club would need an additional $120,000, which would allow for a workout space above the boat storage on the east side of the building and provide training facilities for the club’s companion high school rowing program, Tulsa Youth Rowing Association.
"We’ve been a presence on the river since 1982, and there’s a strong rowing community here in Tulsa," she said. "With this new boathouse, we can increase our visibility and be ready for the increased use of the Arkansas River when the Zink Lake improvements are completed as part of the Vision process in the next three years."
Tulsa Rowing Club has launched a fundraising effort to secure additional money to complete a boathouse that meets the new building requirements for structures along the Arkansas River.
"Our club has been actively working toward building a new boathouse for more than a year, talking with an architect to design and prepare construction drawings for the new structure," Brierre said. "We have an anonymous donor willing to match donations 1 for 1 up to $100,000, so we’re going to do everything we can to build a boathouse that Tulsans can be proud of and that meets our members’ needs for years to come."
The club already has received funds from two Tulsa-area foundations, Cuesta Foundation and ONEOK Foundation.
For those interested in assisting with completion of the boathouse, donations can be made on the Tulsa Rowing Club website at
tulsarowing.org or at a GoFundMe page,
bit.ly/tulsaboathouse.