A 91-year-old Monona Bay boathouse, long in disrepair, will be resurrected in a slightly different location under a plan spearheaded by the Camp Randall Rowing Club.
The Brittingham Park Boathouse, located southeast of the campus on North Shore Drive, will then become the home of the non-profit rowing club, as well as a temporary home for UW-Madison rowers when the university's boathouse undergoes a facelift, said Camp Randall Rowing Club Vice President Steve Schaefer.
'We went out there and took a look at it,' Schaefer said. 'The place is a mess. It's sinking into the ground about 12 inches and it's raking over about another 12 inches.'
The club then contracted architects from Madison-based Architectural Network, Inc. to frame out plans for what Schaefer said should be about a $400,000 renovation.
In the process the building will be moved 150 to 200 feet to the southwest of its present plot.
According to Schaefer, this move was necessary because of the poor quality of the soil under which the building currently stands.
'What we're finding out, as we suspected, is that the cost of rehabbing it and moving it is about half of what it would have been leaving it in the same place,' he said.
Now, Schaefer said, the club's primary focus is raising the funds needed to complete the project.
While the group has already acquired a $15,000 donation from the university with matching funds from the city, as well as a $20,000 grant secured by the Capitol Neighborhoods Association, more funds are greatly needed, Schaefer said.
Madison resident Sally Ouellette, whose family has stored their boat at the Brittingham Park facility for about 70 years, said she is enthusiastic about the opportunity to save the historic structure.
'I'm thrilled,' she said. 'It's just always nice when a building is kept and restored,' she said.
