Founded in 1974 as a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization, the club made its first home on the lake at Stone Mountain. Membership increased steadily through the early eighties when the club moved to its current location in the Roswell Park, occupying a small boathouse on the shores of the Chattahoochee river. More space for boats was needed and a new boathouse was constructed in 1987 on the other side, the inland side, of Azelea Drive, making our club perhaps the only one with its own traffic light... These days, the club has about 250 members of all ages and with a wide range of rowing objectives, from the purely recreational to the - potential, current, or past - national team members.
From our By-laws: "The purpose of the Atlanta Rowing Club is to be a non-profit organization formed and maintained to promote the sport of rowing; to teach and train oarsmen and oarswomen without preference to race, creed, religion, or color; to provide the equitable means for both recreational and competitive rowing, locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally; to develop the sport of rowing as an interscholastic and intercollegiate sport in the Atlanta metropolitan area; to maintain the natural beauty and ecological balance of the Chattahoochee River and surrounding area; and finally, to provide a means for community and charitable involvement in the Atlanta metropolitan area."
The club is a volunteer based organization and depends on the efforts of its members in order to be able to provide all of them with the facilities and the equipment they need to pursue their rowing aspirations. It takes quite a few good souls willing to take time away from work, family and sundry projects to keep all those little (and some not so little...) things in place that allow everyone else in the club to enjoy their rowing. If you're thinking of joining us (or if you already have...), please be willing to chip in - and don't just expect those "things" to be provided for you.
The ARC is also the only rowing club in Atlanta for those beyond high school or college age. That means that, unlike in some other cities where one can find rowing clubs with various objectives, we need to cover a wide spectrum of "rowing worlds" within our own club - our members have a great variety of rowing concepts and expectations, ranging from those who simply want to enjoy the serenity of the river while watching the ducks and the herons, to those who pursue the eternal search for them bubbles under the hull, or even those who have national team aspirations. That has consequences for the equipment we need, the money we spend, and the skills and speeds we exhibit on the water, among other things - being patient, respectful and understanding with each other is the key to making this club work for all members.