The official opening of the newly redeveloped Richmond Rowing Club was celebrated in style on Sunday 5th October. Looking back on everything that lead to the success of the day I’m so proud of all we have been able to achieve. It has been an amazing effort by a very large team of people to really make our vision of a great boathouse a reality.
We were joined by over 150 people to finally open the new section of the boathouse and with the sun shining down it was clear to see everyone was desperate to get out onto our new deck and take in the 180° views of the city. I want to t
hank Mr Peter Antonie for stepping up to cut the black and
gold ribbon and for his kind words about our great club and its significant history.
There were many people to thank and I must echo what I said at the event in acknowledgement to our partners throughout this endeavour, MLC, without whom it would not have been possible. Sincere thanks also go to our architects, FMSA and builders, Llyod Group who worked with a team of RRC members to deliver the grand result of our redeveloped boathouse. From the very start of the planning of this project Franziska Locher has invested a huge amount of time and along with Liz Sheil their professional skills have been vital to its success. Volunteering an amazing amount of time and energy both Lucy Crunden and Martin Foster were instrumental in the negotiations that led to the fulfilment of this project. The RRC committee and all its members have each contributed to what can only be described as a remarkable accomplishment for the club and I thank them all.
It has been a challenging renovation period but I hope you will all agree that it has been worth it now the finished results are there for us all to enjoy. It was so pleasing to see so many friends and family sharing in the achievement and celebrating the strong and vibrant community that is Richmond Rowing Club. From here I know we can continue to grow stronger.
Further thanks to all those who helped with serving food, preparing drinks, cleaning empties, selling raffle tickets and all the other activities of the day. Cheers to Justin Thomas and Vicki Brenan who worked relentlessly behind the bar as everyone exclaimed that we were now home to the finest beer garden in Melbourne.
Can I remind you all that if you still wish to contribute to our “boathouse warming” you can do by logging into our gift registry here and using the password 1863 to enter the site to select an item to donate.
I want to end by sharing with you all an excerpt from an email I received from Fiona Dickson, the chair of Rowing Victoria who joined us for the celebrations on Sunday, “On behalf of the Board of Rowing Victoria I wish to congratulate you on the magnificent facility that now greets us at the end of Boathouse Drive. It was almost unthinkable even five years ago, that the grey block front of Richmond Rowing Club could become the glamorous facility that was opened today.”
We should all be very proud!