Do you row? Check out Bergen's new $7 million rowing center on the Passaic
A two-story, 14,000-square-foot rowing center opened Thursday morning on the banks of the Passaic River in Lyndhurst, the latest piece of Bergen County’s push to expand public access to North Jersey waterways.
The expansive wood-paneled building offers rowing machines and racks for storing boats on the first level and rooms upstairs for community, environmental, and rowing groups to meet, hold classes and train.
County Executive Jim Tedesco said Thursday that the $7 million project was a testament to the county’s commitment to improve and expand its parks.
“This facility will satisfy the increased demand for public rowing and provide expanded access to Bergen’s waterways,” Tedesco said to a crowd of about 100 people gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony outside the boathouse.
Less than two weeks ago, the county opened a paddle center at Van Buskirk Island County Park in Oradell that offers kayak rentals and allows people to access the Hackensack River for trips to the Oradell Avenue bridge and back.
Story continues below the gallery
The project was funded with $1.15 million from the state Green Acres programs, $1.1 million from the state Office of Natural Resource Restoration, and the remainder from county’s Open Space Trust Fund.
The pandemic laid bare the value of parks and open space, particularly in densely populated Bergen County, said Tracy Zur, the chair of the county Board of Commissioners.
“I think we all felt our parks grew more important,” she said. “We need these places for us to connect with nature and nurture our mental health."
The rowing center is just one piece of a larger revitalization at Riverside County Park, an 85-acre park that hugs the Passaic River through Lyndhurst and North Arlington. Over the next year, improvements will be made to the park’s walking paths, and adult and children’s exercise equipment will be installed, county officials said.
The center, designed by Clarke Caton Hintz Architects and Peterson Architects, replaces a nearby one-story 2,600 square foot structure that was originally used as a train tunnel for a children’s railroad attraction that circled Riverside County Park in the 1950s.
The former boat launch was used by local crew teams from North Arlington and Nutley, but county officials said they are hopeful other nearby schools will begin using the new center, which will be the site of high school and collegiate regattas.
Construction on the project began in May 2021, but local rowers for years have pushed for better facilities and access to the river.
Jeffrey Gingold, the president of the Passaic River Rowing Association, the nonprofit organization that has organized rowing at the park for nearly two decades and will operate the facility, said Thursday that the center will give more people the opportunity to try the sport.
The larger storage space will allow the group to grow its fleet and membership and host more events, Gingold said. The group offers youth programs with discounts and free memberships available to low-income families, which Gingold said he hopes to expand as people’s interest in rowing grows.
“This boathouse will allow us to bring rowing to the larger community and expand opportunities for people who don’t have access to fancy rowing clubs,” he said. “This opens up a whole new world.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen opens $7M rowing center on Passaic River in Lyndhurst
