Orléans canoe club facing financial woes trying to stay afloat

Orléans canoe club facing financial woes trying to stay afloat

Petrie Island club set to close Nov. 1 if it can't reach fundraising goal

Orléans canoe club facing financial pressures trying to stay afloat

Sarah Kennedy fights back tears as she talks about the possibility the Petrie Island Canoe Club could close at the end of October.

"I know how important it is to the community," said Kennedy, the club's commodore. "I see the kids every day who come down here, and their personal development through the years — [it's] like, I live for that."

Kennedy founded the club in Orléans 10 years ago, and says if they doesn't raise a total $78,000 by Nov. 1, they'll have to shut the doors.

"We promised that we would not go any further into debt," she told Radio-Canada in a recent interview.

The recent construction of their boathouse — which Kennedy says they needed for a secure space to store equipment — has crippled the club's finances.

The building cost nearly $1.45 million, more than twice the initial estimate.

Costs rose because of COVID-19, Kennedy said, and there were project delays which stretched the construction over three years.

The Petrie Island Canoe Club's new boathouse cost nearly $1.45 million, more than twice the initial estimate. (Jonathan Jobin/Radio-Canada)

They've now launched a short-term fundraising campaign to pay off their debt and stay afloat for another year.

"It's really to buy time. The best solution to save the club long-term is for the City of Ottawa to buy the building," said club coach Nuala Clark.

In a statement to Radio-Canada, the city said it was in discussions with the club and staff are currently reviewing its finances and operations to assess if the municipality "could play any role."

Staff will meet with representatives from the club soon to discuss it further, the statement said.

"At the start of the project, I worked with my colleagues in the city's east end to secure $150,000 in municipal funding to help with the club's building costs," added Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matthew Luloff in his own statement to Radio-Canada.

"I remain fully committed to doing everything I can to help the club continue operating, but election-related restrictions are complicating this effort."

Sarah Kennedy is the commodore, founder and head coach of the Petrie Island Canoe Club. She says the club's been crippled financially by cost overruns on a new boathouse and may have to close at the end of October. (Jonathan Jobin/Radio-Canada)

A club like no other, coach says

Petrie offers French-speaking programs and nature education excursions that don't exist at the Rideau Canoe Club, one of the city's most prominent clubs, said Clark.

It's also not "sustainable" for east-end residents to make the long daily journey all the way to the Rideau, she added.

They're now clinging to hope for a long-term solution, Kennedy said, so they can continue their mission "to serve our community through our programs."

The club has nearly 250 members and also offers free services to non-members on certain days in the summer.

From summer camps to competitive groups to Special Olympians who train there, Kennedy said they do their best to serve every demographic while making the club accessible.

"Sport is a vehicle to prepare kids for life, and it's a vehicle to build community," she said. "And it would just be heart-wrenching to see that disappear."

Emma Weller is a reporter for CBC Ottawa and she's also worked with CBC's Your World Tonight. She can be reached at emma.weller@cbc.ca.