The Facility
The Bellegarde Boathouse today,
seen here from Pawtucket Blvd. |
Serving the needs of hundreds of rowers and river walkers
alike, citizens from a dozen communities in the Merrimack
Valley - from Andover to Tyngsboro, Carlisle to Westford, and
of course Lowell - enjoy the historic Bellegarde Boathouse
on Pawtucket Boulevard in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Prominently placed in the Lowell Heritage State Park at
the beginning of a scenic and busy two-plus mile boulevard
walk, the Boathouse was built in 1982 and named
after Edmund A. Bellegarde, an avid sailor and Lowell
resident.
Home to the non-profit Merrimack River Rowing Association
- a rowing club open to the general public, the UMASS Lowell
and Lowell High School Crews, the boathouse is active
morning through afternoon with the activity of rowers of all
ages and abilities. The building contains crew
offices, full locker facilities, two bays for storage of
rowing shells and equipment, and one bay dedicated to a
training area. Meeting space is central to the
building, and the River as a Classroom Program
conducted by the Tsongas Industrial Center also educates
elementary school students from surrounding communities
using the boathouse as a base for lectures and experiments
teaching both science and Lowell history.
The Bellegarde Boathouse in better
days, seen here from the river. |
The beautiful Merrimack River provides over ten miles of
sheltered water for rowers to train, and this body of water
has certainly seen its share of Olympic and National Team
rowers. Rowers begin their workouts by
the Boathouse basin, pass under the Rourke Bridge and wind
their way up-river through, Lowell, Chelmsford, Tyngsboro,
and Nashua, NH. The location of the Boathouse along the
Boulevard provides an excellent vantage points to watch
competing crews. One can view crews racing for over
half-a-mile from the Heritage State Park walkway and the
Boathouse deck. The river is also the site of two major
regattas and the Boathouse is used as the home-base.
Crews from rowing clubs, high schools, colleges and
universities from all over Massachusetts and New England
enjoy the Festival
Regatta in mid-July, a 2000-meter sprint race, and the Textile
River Regatta, a three-mile head race, on the first
Sunday in October.
Constructed more than 20 years ago, the boathouse is
now showing significant signs of wear and tear, as any
well-loved and active community building would. But as
hundreds of rowers and thousands of regatta spectators will
tell you -- the Bellegarde Boathouse is a jewel of the
Merrimack Valley and a welcoming home to rowers, residents
and visitors alike.
Location
The Bellegarde Boathouse is located at:
Bellegarde
Boathouse
Pawtucket Boulevard
Rte 113
Lowell, Mass
Please note that this is NOT our
mailing address.
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Directions
FROM POINTS NORTH:
Follow Route 3 South into Massachusetts. Take exit
32 off of Route 3 at North Chelmsford. You will
immediately be on a rotary. Well it was a
rotary a few years ago. Now it's some hack of a
traffic design that only a Bostonian could love.
Basically, you want to straight off the exit, get to
your left so that you can make a left to cross back
over Rt 3 and head straight onto Drum Hill Road.
Two or three orbits of this interchange should be all
you need to master these directions. You're on
Drum Hill Road when you see paradise - a Starbucks on
the left and a Dunkin Donuts on the right among other
strip mall tenants. Follow this road straight
through two sets of lights. At your third set of
lights bear left through the fork (green arrow for
left). Follow straight through two more
sets of lights (Market Basket on left and White Hen
Pantry on your right). This will put you on the Rourke
bridge which passes over the Merrimack river. Take a
right off of the bridge. The boathouse is 200
meters down on the right.
FROM POINTS SOUTH or WEST:
Follow either I-495 North or 128 North (i.e., I-95
N). Take to Route 3 North. Take exit 32 off of Route 3
at Rt.4 in Chelmsford. Take your first right at
the stop at the top of the exit. Follow
that straight through two sets of lights. At your
third set of lights bear left through the fork.
Follow this road straight through two sets of
lights. At your third set of lights bear left
through the fork (green arrow for left).
Follow straight through two more sets of lights
(Market Basket on left and White Hen Pantry on your
right). This will put you on the Rourke bridge which
passes over the Merrimack river. Take a right off of
the bridge. The boathouse is 200 meters down on
the right.
FROM POINTS EAST:
If you coming from northeast MA, Portsmouth NH, or
coming down 95 from Maine, take 95 South to 495
South. Take to Route 3 North. Take exit 32 off of Route 3
at Rt.4 in Chelmsford. Take your first right at
the stop at the top of the exit. Follow
that straight through two sets of lights. At your
third set of lights bear left through the fork.
Follow this road straight through two sets of
lights. At your third set of lights bear left
through the fork (green arrow for left).
Follow straight through two more sets of lights
(Market Basket on left and White Hen Pantry on your
right). This will put you on the Rourke bridge which
passes over the Merrimack river. Take a right off of
the bridge. The boathouse is 200 meters down on
the right.
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