Men’s and women’s crew moved into their newly constructed boathouse, located on the Lake Onota waterfront, on March 28. The new boathouse has twice the boat storage of the previous boathouse and features a team room equipped with a television, a room to gather in before and after practice, heated spaces for boat storage, and bathrooms with showers. The entire project, including demolition and construction, was funded by donations from alums and the College community, totaling $4.7 million.
Head coach of men’s crew Marc Mandel said that the new building will allow future generations of the team to train in a wider variety of boat classes rather than the standard eights and fours, which had previously limited the teams at the old boathouse. “Our new boathouse was thoughtfully designed to be as efficient as possible,” he said. Although the teams officially moved in on March 28, Mandel added that landscaping and paving will continue into the summer.
The former boathouse, built in 1970, was only large enough to accommodate a program of 16 to 24 men. However, the current program is co-educated and has 88 athletes as of the 2023-24 school year, according to Mandel. The team had been rowing out of Camp Winadu in Pittsfield for the last two seasons while the boathouse was undergoing construction.
Acting Director of Athletics Carolyn Miles acknowledged the challenges that both teams have faced over the last two seasons in the absence of a permanent boathouse. “[Team members] were patient and understanding for many months,” she wrote in an email to the Record. “I’m excited to see them train and compete out of this new boathouse and look forward to welcoming back our Eph alumni to Onota.”
Senior Project Manager Theresa Sawyer was tasked with planning a design to meet the program’s needs. “The goals of the project include constructing a simple and attractive building which represents crew style boathouse concepts, a structure that fits within the neighborhood with stateof-the-art building science, and meeting environmental regulations on a highly constrained urban site near the waterfront,” she wrote in an email to the Record.
Co-captain of women’s crew Riley Galizio ’24 said that the team was excited for the new boathouse, especially on the heels of a promising start to the spring season in which women’s crew swept the first regatta of its season. “Now we have something that physically shows our success and that we are a team to be taken seriously,” she said. “It made everyone really excited for the season, and it kind of feels like a fresh start.”
Co-captain of men’s crew Isabelle Shah ’24 emphasized the significance of the College’s support for the future of the crew programs, particularly in supporting the construction process and envisioning a more efficient and modern boathouse. “Having the facilities that can help us continue to build on what we’ve already been doing is going to be indescribably impactful,” she said. “It shows the trust and support that the College and the administration has for where they see our programs going.”
Coxswain Carina Sun ’26 found it particularly special that the boathouse is called the Williams College Boathouse, distinguishing it from others at peer institutions that hold donors’ names. “The boathouse and the opening of it is really a reflection of so many people’s work — so many efforts and a history of many people,” she said. “It’s nice to have a place we can call home — a place where we can welcome other teams and spectators.”
