A History of Sammamish Rowing Association
Usually a rowing club starts with some rowers and a coach, then some boats and oars, and eventually a boathouse. But with SRA, the boathouse came first. In 1994, Hod Fowler, a former collegiate rower, learned of an old boathouse in Marymoor Park. The boathouse was originally built by the Overlake School on the site of a former sewage-treatment plant. Overlake later abandoned the building, and Fowler discovered it was weeks away from being demolished as part of a toxic-site cleanup project in Marymoor Park.
Fowler quickly recruited a community of interested rowers. With support from King County, Fowler and a small number of co founders established a non-profit dedicated to serving the broadest range of users. They incorporated in 1995 and settled on the name Sammamish Rowing Association, choosing “association” over “club” to reflect the inclusive, non-elite, public nature of the organization. While the Marymoor site underwent rehabilitation, the new rowing organization spent its first two years in a temporary one-bay boathouse in Idylwood Park. During that time, SRA grew to include about 40 rowers, spread across a 5 a.m. team, a mid-morning team, and a junior program.
After two years in Idylwood and following the completion of the Marymoor cleanup, SRA moved into the old Overlake boathouse in 1997. Volunteers replaced the rotted roof on the boathouse, and the 5 a.m. team started the generator each morning until a volunteer work party eventually ran power and water from the street. Nonetheless, nothing could change the damp, dark, and rickety nature of the building.
Fowler and the board knew SRA was one major storm away from losing its boathouse. SRA was continuing to grow, with steadily expanding juniors’ and masters’ programs. A new home would soon be necessary, and conversations about building a new boathouse began almost immediately.
Given the challenges of building in a wetland, SRA considered alternative locations such as Idylwood Park and Lake Sammamish State Park, but after a five-year search settled on the Marymoor site as the best option. SRA received a shoreline permit in 2005, allowing for construction in the vicinity of the Lake Sammamish shoreline, but that was not the end of the story.
It took years of setbacks, disappointments, and persistence until SRA was finally awarded a building permit and was allowed to begin construction in 2010. Over the next six years, SRA built the new boathouse in phases, as funding permitted. The organization began using the boat bays in 2013, the gym in 2015, and the offices, bathrooms, and locker rooms in 2016.
Throughout the entire process, King County Parks’ Community Partnership Grants program provided extraordinary moral and financial support. SRA’s own members were the largest source of capital over the years, and the taxpayers of Washington State funded a sizable grant that made the last phase of construction possible.
Today, with the new boathouse complete, nearly a thousand people come through the doors of Sammamish Rowing Association each year to experience Row for a Day events, Learn to Row classes, summer camps, independent rowing, and recreational, adaptive, and competitive rowing teams for teens and adults.
Remaining true to Hod Fowler’s original vision of a community organization open to all, SRA continues to provide rowing opportunities on a non-exclusive, first-come-first-served basis. Some 20 years after its founding, SRA honors and upholds its mission, to spark and nurture a passion for the sport of rowing.
Fowler quickly recruited a community of interested rowers. With support from King County, Fowler and a small number of co founders established a non-profit dedicated to serving the broadest range of users. They incorporated in 1995 and settled on the name Sammamish Rowing Association, choosing “association” over “club” to reflect the inclusive, non-elite, public nature of the organization. While the Marymoor site underwent rehabilitation, the new rowing organization spent its first two years in a temporary one-bay boathouse in Idylwood Park. During that time, SRA grew to include about 40 rowers, spread across a 5 a.m. team, a mid-morning team, and a junior program.
After two years in Idylwood and following the completion of the Marymoor cleanup, SRA moved into the old Overlake boathouse in 1997. Volunteers replaced the rotted roof on the boathouse, and the 5 a.m. team started the generator each morning until a volunteer work party eventually ran power and water from the street. Nonetheless, nothing could change the damp, dark, and rickety nature of the building.
Fowler and the board knew SRA was one major storm away from losing its boathouse. SRA was continuing to grow, with steadily expanding juniors’ and masters’ programs. A new home would soon be necessary, and conversations about building a new boathouse began almost immediately.
Given the challenges of building in a wetland, SRA considered alternative locations such as Idylwood Park and Lake Sammamish State Park, but after a five-year search settled on the Marymoor site as the best option. SRA received a shoreline permit in 2005, allowing for construction in the vicinity of the Lake Sammamish shoreline, but that was not the end of the story.
It took years of setbacks, disappointments, and persistence until SRA was finally awarded a building permit and was allowed to begin construction in 2010. Over the next six years, SRA built the new boathouse in phases, as funding permitted. The organization began using the boat bays in 2013, the gym in 2015, and the offices, bathrooms, and locker rooms in 2016.
Throughout the entire process, King County Parks’ Community Partnership Grants program provided extraordinary moral and financial support. SRA’s own members were the largest source of capital over the years, and the taxpayers of Washington State funded a sizable grant that made the last phase of construction possible.
Today, with the new boathouse complete, nearly a thousand people come through the doors of Sammamish Rowing Association each year to experience Row for a Day events, Learn to Row classes, summer camps, independent rowing, and recreational, adaptive, and competitive rowing teams for teens and adults.
Remaining true to Hod Fowler’s original vision of a community organization open to all, SRA continues to provide rowing opportunities on a non-exclusive, first-come-first-served basis. Some 20 years after its founding, SRA honors and upholds its mission, to spark and nurture a passion for the sport of rowing.
