EMU Rowing is celebrating the installation of a new course on Ford Lake

For the new 2,000-meter rowing course on Ford Lake, the Eastern Michigan University Rowing Team planned a celebration: a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, April 26.

“Now we’ll be able to host high school events, youth events, and bring kids from all over the country to see how great the community is,” Deputy Athletic Director Andy Rowdon said.

The University’s athletic department has been planning this project since 2017. Rowdon said the new course is a great opportunity for the rowing team and the community.

“For our student-athletes to compete at a high level on their home course … (is) special and unique,” Rowdon said. “It’s in their backyard, and their friends and family can easily come and watch them. It makes it a better experience … Otherwise, they’re traveling to New Jersey, Boston, Virginia, kind of on the East Coast to compete.”

EMU has hosted races at Ford Lake over the past decade, but the University ran into problems when it tried to host larger races, such as the NCAA Rowing Championships, without a state-of-the-art course facility.

“We’ve only had one race,” Rowdon said. “We can do it without the course, but it’s easier with the course. You can’t have too many teams. You can have two races, but not the biggest one. So, the course will allow us to expand that to bring more teams to a better race.

University officials said the semi-permanent, improved 2,000-meter course has eight competition lanes, floating launch and recovery platforms, and removable alignment platforms and starting stations. Located between Big Island Park and the Ford Lake Park Beach Area, the work included an innovative underwater system that allows the course to surface only during competition.

Rowdon said the new course would also help the University recruit new team members. And, he said, a new program called STEM to Stern can now be established at the University.

“The STEM program at Stern introduces middle school students to STEM courses that can be taken on campus, but also gets them in (the water) teaching swimming and rowing as a sport,” Rowdon said. “We can have partnerships and do social programs that start sports, but also … basic academic skills and programs that you will need in life.”

EMU partnered with Destination Ann Arbor and Marriott Eagle Crest to sponsor the project. Project costs for construction and installation were $487,000, the University said.

“It started with a relationship with Destination Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Sports Commission,” Rowdon said. “They are clearly interested in bringing events to Ypsilanti, our community, and indeed all of Washtenaw County.”

Mike Price, chief sales and operations officer for Destination Ann Arbor, said the project adds to the destination’s appeal.

“It will elevate the City of Ypsilanti and the entire region as a whole and position us nationwide as a unique destination for premier national and international rowing events,” Price said. “No other facility in our state can match the infrastructure that we have here and the location that we have for the amenities around it – fast highway access, close to the airport, lots to do, lots of lodging and dining options and entertainment venues. .”

Jennifer Gratz-Pierson, director of sales and marketing at the Marriott Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti, said the course has endless benefits for the hotel and the surrounding community.

“When they’re not rowing, they can come for leadership courses, or just grab food and drinks,” Gratz-Pierson said. “It’s a good deal, as the hotel is on beautiful Ford Lake.”

John Hines, director of municipal services for the City of Ypsilanti, also said the course provides significant benefits to the region.

“When these competitions come to the site, the community will be able to get more involved with it,” Hines said. With “more people in the area, more people are aware of the sport, and … maybe learning about potential school funding opportunities as well.”

Rowdon said the installation of the course has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has grown rapidly over the past year and a half.

“What we didn’t want to do was go to the neighborhood for funding,” Rowdon said.

The township has “land that we use for this and one of the main goals of having this course is to bring impactful events to our community and better support our community and do that by providing positive economic outcomes,” Rowdon said. “We didn’t want to ask them to be a financial contributor. We wanted them to be someone who can benefit from this as much as our athletes will.

The public is invited to join EMU in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 26, at Ford Lake Park, 9075 S. Huron River Drive.