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<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\tThe Cape Coral Rowing Club is raising funds to help prepare its allocated space at Tropicana Park.
\nPHOTO PROVIDED<\/p>\n
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The Cape Coral Rowing Club is raising funds to help prepare its allocated space at Tropicana Park.
\nPHOTO PROVIDED<\/p>\n
With a recent victory under its belt last month, the Cape Coral Rowing Club is now turning its attention to properly outfitting its soon-to-be home. <\/p>\n
After years of planning, fundraising and an incredible outpouring of community support, the Cape Coral Rowing Club officially has a long-term home at Tropicana Park.<\/p>\n
The club is a nonprofit that raises its own funds to operate and grow. President Saundra Weston said members have worked for years to prepare for this move \u2014 including countless hours working concessions at local venues \u2014 and have already secured a significant portion of the investment needed for its new home.<\/p>\n
While plans have been made, some challenges have been unforeseen. That includes costs to be incurred to meet the agreement made with the city after an initial deadlocked vote on whether the club could move there, although the city had already invested in a $500,000 dock designed for the sport.<\/p>\n
The club has launched a fundraising campaign to help support landscaping and privacy hiding to complement Tropicana Park \u2014 a secure perimeter fencing and gates, upgraded boat storage systems, enhanced secure and protection for club equipment, and additional facility and equipment improvements as the program grows. <\/p>\n
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The Cape Coral Rowing Club is raising funds to help prepare its allocated space at Tropicana Park.
\nPHOTO PROVIDED<\/p>\n
Weston said, yes, she did plan for the club needing an external fence at the city park. <\/p>\n
What was tougher to foresee would be the additional requirements that Weston agreed to to secure the spot for the club. <\/p>\n
Weston figured a 6-foot-high fence, as per the usual city code, would be sufficient to surround the club\u2019s area at the park. As talks about the club\u2019s presence at Tropicana Park became more contentious, additional stipulations were put into place, which in turn, raised the cost of moving in. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re me, are you going to say anything about (the proposed changes) in the license after all of this hell? No. You\u2019re going to sign it,\u201d Weston said. \u201cNow, those wants perpetuated into this license, those are my cost-drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weston said there were two major factors brought into the new license: nothing can be seen above the fence, and that nothing can be seen from outside or inside the park. <\/p>\n
Weston said those stipulations are \u201cmassive\u201d cost-drivers for various reasons. <\/p>\n
First, not being able to store things vertically so as to not be seen overtop a fence is problematic for the club. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur equipment is massive,\u201d Weston said. \u201cHorizontally, it\u2019s huge. Everybody goes vertical \u2014 four-high, five-high racks. You go vertical so that as you grow, it enables you to make the most of a small footprint of land.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the current license, the club has been restricted as to its ability to place and store equipment vertically. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have to have all new boat racks fabricated,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t just pick up the racks that are at our temporary location and move them to Tropicana.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the club\u2019s oars at 12-feet long, storing them vertically is what makes most sense \u2014 which is what the club is doing currently. At their length and now lack of ability to go up, Weston is also having to create custom storage for the oars. <\/p>\n
Weston said she\u2019s frustrated that the current vertical storage racks are now obsolete, and that thousands will now have to be spent on horizontal racks. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already spent my fence fund by virtue of having to accommodate that one thing \u2014 that nothing can be seen above the fence,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Along with 400-plus feet of fencing required to be 8 feet tall with opaque vinyl screening, also required is a continuous hedge the entire way around. Weston had volunteered to put in 80 feet of hedging in areas that have sight lines to residences, but the city-granted license now requires her to line the entire area of fencing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI prepared and planned for the fence,\u201d Weston said. \u201cBut the rest of it, those were all cost-drivers put on us by the wants of other people, and I was never in a position to negotiate that. So now, I\u2019ve got to make it work. Never in my time as president have I asked for donations. We always work for our fundraising. This is the first time I put together a campaign. By the grace of God, we got this license signed, and now we\u2019ve got to make it work. If we want to give these kids the future that they want, and what they and their parents have fought for, then I have to figure out how to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s last move cost $35,000, with members rolling out weed mat, and Weston raking gravel herself. She said the club has been responsible in its spending over the years, but that it\u2019s starting to catch up between moves and equipment costs. <\/p>\n
Despite the tumultuous dealings with the city to find the club a home, Weston became emotional while talking about the support from the community. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been overwhelming,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were invisible, and all of a sudden we\u2019re clawing and fighting for our lives over something that should never have been a fight. We\u2019re trying to make opportunities for future generations, and we had to fight so hard. I\u2019m super grateful for the community support. I struggle to ask for donations. Even to hear people come up to us during community events where we have a tent and people telling us, \u2018We\u2019re rooting for you guys.\u2019 That\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we would like right now is a little bit of grace and patience in understanding (our financial hardship) right now out of the gate. These stipulations don\u2019t come from people that support us, they come from people who don\u2019t support us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cape Coral Rowing Club has a fundraising campaign set up on a website called Give Butter with a goal of raising $50,000. Weston said that number is just the cost of the fence. <\/p>\n
Weston said if the fundraising goal is not met, they will still make the move and continue to fundraise, but it may impact the number of youth they are able to serve and how much need-based financial assistance they can give at the moment. <\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless, we\u2019re going to figure out how to make it work,\u201d Weston said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful we have a rectangle of land and I\u2019m going to figure out how to make it awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weston said she hopes to be able to move the club into the park over the next six months. <\/p>\n
For more information or to donate, visit givebutter.com\/cape-coral-rowing-club<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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