June 27, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Although the 2007-08 UCF rowing season has come to a close, action at Lake Pickett is heating up. On-going construction of the new Intercollegiate Rowing Center has been a pleasant sight for the Knights' program, and the project is scheduled to be wrapped up in mid-September.
For an updated look at the progress, check out the link above for a detailed photo gallery.
"To be honest, I am mostly taken back by how big it is," said head coach Becky Frost. "I knew it would be big, but in person it's exciting to see how large this facility will be. You can see the rooflines coming in and it's taking shape very well. You can visualize it all, and what's even more amazing is when you stand there and look at the new facility, then turn around to see the old one."
The Intercollegiate Rowing Center is designed by HOK Architects and sits on the south shoreline of Lake Pickett, just east of the UCF campus. It will feature a 12,000-square-foot boathouse with six individual boat bays for the team's rowing shells.
The facility also will include a boathouse and a locker room, as well as a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse that has plenty of room for erg training, meeting rooms and coaches' offices.
Frost admits some of the simple things that go into a new complex are what she is looking forward to having the most.
"A locker room, running water, bathrooms and electricity," smiled Frost. "Probably the number one thing for the whole team is to have that locker room. Our facility people did do a great job of getting us a trailer and space this year so we could take care of some things. That was a big help before the rowing center is ready."
Currently, the foundation is taking shape and is controlling the landscape on Lake Pickett Road. The next few weeks will feature construction crews moving back and forth between the two buildings. For example, when the frame to the clubhouse was started, the frame of the boathouse then began. As the boathouse was rising up from the ground, crews went over to get the masonry on the clubhouse going.
"Our student-athletes are really excited to see what is happening over there," admitted Frost. "I spoke with a couple of our incoming rowers recently and they are at a loss for words. And our current athletes who have seen it as well were in awe of the facility."
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