Help ACBA Get to a 30% Design for our New Locker Room Facility!

One thing we all have in common is that we love getting out on the Anacostia River to row and paddle as part of the Anacostia Community Boathouse Association (ACBA) community. The joy of catching the right stroke, of hearing the bubbles under the hull, of watching the sunrise, and of nourishing our bodies and minds is truly precious. We’re fortunate to experience all of this from a top-notch boathouse, a resource that’s easy to take for granted! Nearly 1,000 athletes from eight member organizations use the facility each year, and thanks to the behind-the-scenes work of ACBA board members and volunteers, it all runs smoothly - often so smoothly that we hardly notice the effort it takes to keep the boathouse humming!!

Consider this- just in 2025, the ACBA board of directors and volunteers worked to:

• Repair the motorized entry/exit gate next to the bathroom trailers
• Repair the toilet grinders so that we have properly functioning plumbing
• Keep the bathroom and locker facilities clean and stocked with paper products & soap
• Create paved paths for wheelchairs to be able to travel over our plaza
• Construct new outdoor storage racks for our canoe/kayak/stand-up paddle board storage
• Purchase new hoses for washing boats, and light bulbs to keep our areas lit
• Maintain overhead heaters in the erg room
• Repair moveable staircases and boat lifts so that we can get our boats onto/off of the racks
• Cut the grass along our site perimeters
• Maintain the bioswale which captures and treats stormwater runoff from our parking area to help protect our beloved Anacostia River
• Organize members to flip the dock decking boards for more splinter free launching experiences!

Having a facility as large as ours, and with so many people using it every day, means that there is a tremendous amount of wear and tear on it. This requires constant maintenance and upgrading. ACBA is there everyday working to keep our boathouse operating smoothly. For this we can all be grateful!!

You may have noticed that the water spigots around our two tents are used every day for washing boats. Very regularly, these break. The design is outdated, and no longer used. Plumbers often cannot get parts for these easily, and it is very costly to repair them- think over $1,000 per spigot!! Much of this is due to the fact that the components are buried underground, and access is very difficult. This is but one of the many longer-term capital projects that we will need at the boathouse.

Your donations will allow us to address the water spigots, plus other upgrades at the boathouse.

Our big fundraising lift, though, is the continued long term planning for new locker room facilities!

Last year, we began an effort to plan for designing and building a more functional and permanent, winterized and adequately sized restroom/locker room/shower facility on the Anacostia Community Boathouse site. We conducted an initial fundraising campaign, and many of you generously contributed towards this. The following is a progress report on where this efforts stands.

Progress: In 2025, the ACBA Board brought our new Director of Operations, David O'Brien, on-board to (in part) focus on moving this project forward. In conjunction with several of our Boathouse Community's professional Architects, David has made significant progress in understanding the requirement in terms of zoning, design concepts, athlete experience, and actual site use and loading. Thanks to everyone who completed the requirements survey!

Next Steps: In 2026, ACBA plans to begin design efforts in earnest, contracting with an architectural firm to create a 30% design plan that addresses any required utilities improvements, and results in an actual cost estimate.

How Much? The design effort will easily cost $30,000. Construction of a 1,500 SQ FT facility may cost $375,000 to build, not including removal of our existing structure or potential utility upgrades. Total project cost will easily be $500,000!!

Fundraising:

Funds on hand today for our new facility are $113,000, which is sufficient to start the design process, but a long way from being able to complete the project.

Recent Fundraising: we raised just $5,900 in 2022, $17,100 in 2023, and $37,300 in 2024. Let's keep the ball rolling and beat that this year!

Reaching this total in 2025 will demonstrate to the District of Columbia government leadership our riversport community's COMMITMENT to sustaining the Anacostia Community Boathouse as we work for a 2026 lease renewal, address the water spigots and other site needs, and as we begin a design-build process as early as Winter 2026-2027.

Sincerely,

Jim Connolly
Vice President
Anacostia Community Boathouse Association

P.S. - Every donation amount matters! Please join with your teammates to help bring world class upgrades to our boathouse facility!! Donate Today!