West Boathouse

Category B Listed; A. B. MacDonald; 1905

The Category B Listed West Boathouse was built by the Glasgow Corporation in 1905 to designs by the city surveyor Alexander Beith MacDonald.  The West Boathouse is said to be among the grandest of its kind in Britain, occupying the ideal location for rowing on the River Clyde, within Glasgow Green. The building is of a timber frame construction which in itself is a rare building type from that period. The building has been altered over the years and is in poor condition, but remains in active use by the rowing clubs.

The Rejuvenation of the West Boathouse project will open up the River Clyde to all by removing barriers in order to enjoy and share the social, physical and psychological benefits of being part of a diverse river community. The project will redevelop the historic timber structure into a fully shared and accessible facility to enable other groups to utilise the building and access the river Clyde.

Gallery

Project Development

With the announcement of the wonderful news that the Heritage Lottery Fund have confirmed a Round 2 award of a Heritage Grant of £1.37m, we have launched a specific project website.

Stakeholders

Clydesdale Amateur Rowing Club – established in 1857.  A Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation since March 2015.
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Clyde Amateur Rowing Club – established in 1865.  ​An unincorporated organisation.

Project Consultants

Architects:  ARPL Architects
Quantity Surveyors:  Gardiner and Theobold
Structural Engineers:  David Narro Associates
Services Engineers:  FLN Consulting Engineers
Heritage Activity and Interpretation Planner:  Northlight Heritage
Project Business Planners:  Community Links Scotland
Equality Diversity and Inclusion Planning:  Glasgow Women's Library

Project Costs

Total Project Costs are estimated at £2.7m

Feasibility Study

Clydesdale ARC received a Start-Up Grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and a Project Viability Grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) for their project, Heritage of Rowing at West Boathouse, in Glasgow.  The project had 3 distinct activities – heritage appraisal, business case and condition survey.  The rowing community have been fully involved in every aspect, from sharing old photos to developing 5 year business plans, from itemising maintenance issues to trial pit inspections and installing ‘heritage windows’.
The Feasibility Study concluded in December 2015.  A summary of the Feasibility Study can be downloaded here:  Feasibility Study Summary
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Our thanks go to the consultants who worked on the Feasibility Study:
Architect: LDN Architects
Cost Consultant: Morham and Brotchie
Structural Engineer: Elliot and Co.
Business Case Consultant: Stephanie Robertson
Heritage Consultant: Building Learning

Funding

The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced its support for the redevelopment of the Category B listed West Boathouse on Glasgow Green, with a Heritage Grant of £1.37m.

Historic Environment Scotland have awarded a Building Repair Grant of £360,000 towards the eligible repair costs of the Category B Listed timber frame building.

The Architectural Heritage Trust have awarded a Project Development Grant of £13,000 to support Glasgow Building Preservation Trust with the costs of developing the project e.g. consultant fees, surveys and reports etc.

The Spirit of Calton – a Fourteen Community programme 
have awarded a grant of £2,500 to support the development of the Activity Plan and the Equality Plan.  The Spirit of Calton fund is administered by Foundation Scotland.

Through MyParkScotland, a public appeal exceeded the £5k target with 197 donations raising £5,478 towards the development costs.  In addition, over £700 was generated from GiftAid on the donations for the Glasgow Green Endowment Fund to help support future projects in Glasgow Green.

The William Grant Foundation have approved a grant of £10,000 to the project. The grant from the Natural and Built Environment Group will support the development work on the project – and completes the funding required at this stage, enabling the development period to start in January 2017.

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