Another historic groundbreaking took place this morning at Buffalo’s Cotter Point. This is the future location of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Boathouse. It was an exciting day because it was announced that 90% of the necessary funds have been raised to move forward with the project. It was also announced that they plan on celebrating the official ribbon cutting for the building in late spring 2007. That’s a lot of headway for a project that will contribute to Buffalo’s ongoing mission of become a high profile architectural tourist destination.
The $5.4 million dollar boathouse will be the future home to Buffalo’s West Side Rowing Club. FLW Rowing Boathouse Corporation (FLWRBC) members plan on spearheading a movement that will open up the culture of rowing to a broader range of city residents who up until now might not have had such access to the sport of rowing.
Among others at the groundbreaking was writer/producer Tom Fontana for whose parents the boathouse will be named, Ted Marks (President FLWRBC), Mayor Brown and Sam Hoyt (NYS Assembly Member), Muriel Howard (President of Buffalo State College), and Bill Maggio (President of West Side Rowing Club). The event marks a new era for Cotter Point. The addition of the boathouse will catapult a relatively non-descript piece of land along Lake Erie’s shore into an awesome tourist destination. This will be the place that members of the West Side Rowing Club (along with the community) will gather to celebrate Lake Erie.