It’s a rebuilding year for the Wisconsin rowing program in more ways than one. The Badger men launch the spring leg of their season in April, striving to overcome the loss of several world-class rowers that helped the crew claim a pair of victories at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta last year. Additionally, the construction of a new crew house at the end of Babcock Drive leaves them, as well as both women’s crews, temporarily homeless.

Until the completion of the facility, the men are forced to live a nomadic existence. Practicing in tents along the waterfront, while animals maunder about and legs of mutton roast over an open fire.

Alright, there’s no mutton and most of the chickens were sold off in Texas. Still, it’s a difficult transition to bear for a team coming off a No. 3 ranked season.

With the yearlong project well underway, there remains little doubt in anyone’s mind that now is the right time. Since the addition of the women’s team in 1972 and the women lightweights in 1995, the old Babcock boathouse proved ridiculously inadequate. The University constructed the 1967 facility with 60-70 athletes in mind. With nearly 200 rowers in the program, urgent need arose for a more expansive structure.

The new crew house offers a cavernous storage garage for boats as well as ample area for indoor training, including 40 ergometers and a 104-foot indoor tank with adjustable flow. Perhaps the most enticing luxury for the athletes and coaches is the freedom of practicing without coordinating schedules.

“With the rise of gender equality in the program we’ve been making adjustments to accommodate everyone in the limited space,” men’s team head coach Chris Clark said. “There is no longer need to get there at 5:45 in the morning. We can train whenever we want.”

Charged with the building of this castle of coxswain is Miron Construction. Over the coming weeks the company enters a critical stage in the project as they pour concrete and set up the structural components for the third floor. With spring on the way, Miron and its partner contractors will need to look at least a little less to the skies.

“Weather and temperature for construction, especially with a building of this nature, you have to be on top of it every hour of every day,” Project Superintendent Mark Voight explained. “Once you start going high in the air with all the heavy forms and concrete the effects of weather multiply very quickly. We’re completely exposed to the lake and there isn’t much protection so when you get up there it’s a pretty strong blow.”

Despite difficult weather and routine setbacks, Miron secures extra measures to assure everything stays on schedule. Voight expects the last of the concrete pours in April, with the final structural work and roof completion in the early weeks of June

“By the end of next week, most of the concrete will be in,” Voight said. “[Friday] we have the last wall pour, so all the major walls will be set. The major superstructure is in.”

While the construction crews climb over a sprawling web of rebar, or in Voight’s case one of schedules and blueprints, the teams will look on from their encampment down the shoreline at Willows Beach. Clark looks forward to seeking the final product of the building that will house UW’s crew program by the end of the year.

“I know every boathouse in the country,” Clark asserts. “They all have their charm but this one will stack up against any of them.”

Yet the making of the Crew House has not been entirely easy. Since the project commenced in the fall, complaints emanated from the residents of the Lakeshore dorms regarding everything from the noise to the removal of recreational space. Discontent died down considerably when the demolition phase stopped, yet the process remains difficult for many students living in the surrounding halls.

“I appreciate the patience of the students living down near the site,” Clark said. “Everyone has done all they can to make the whole process go as smoothly as possible.”

Soon enough the cranes will fall silent and the growing program will have a facility capable of suiting its needs.