The grand opening of the North Side boathouse is here.

On Saturday, October 19, North Park University will join the Chicago Rowing Foundation (CRF) and the Chicago Park District to unveil the newly constructed rowing facility in Clark Park, which will serve local high school rowing teams as well as the University team. The event, scheduled from 8:45 am to 2:00 pm, will be held at 3400 North Rockwell Street, Chicago.

The 20,000-square-foot facility was built over the last year, funded by tax increment funds, private donors, and the Chicago Park District. It will provide teams with storage for boats, locker rooms, training rooms, and an indoor practice tank that will simulate water currents. CRF has deemed the new facility as one of the best rowing facilities in all of the Midwest.

North Park will utilize the facility as its main practice facility for both the non-traditional fall season and the traditional spring season. Before the new rowing facility, North Park was traveling to Skokie for practices at the Dammrich Rowing Center, which is part of the Skokie Park District. Now that they will have full access to the new WMS boathouse, practices will almost literally be right around the corner. The possibility of North Park hosting a regatta at the new facility is also a decision that will be made in the near future.

Saturday's grand opening is free and open to the public, and will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a middle school regatta, and exhibition races that will include the Vikings varsity eight-person boat. It will also feature a celebratory Berghoff Brat—a 65-foot long bratwurst to match the length of the rowing shell. Five-inch portions of the brat will be sold and served beginning at 12:30 pm.

North Park's women's rowing program became an NCAA-sponsored sport at the University in 2004. Since then, the Vikings have won numerous medals and individual races, including the most prestigious race, the Dad Vail Regatta in Pennsylvania, where they earned gold, silver and bronze medals in their first three years of competition.

For more information on the grand opening event, please contact head women's rowing coach Allison Ford by e-mail or graduate assistant coach Cristina McKee.