Community Corner

Ossining Boat and Canoe Club Reopens (For Now)

After months of feverish work by its members, the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club was declared up to code March 6 by the Building Department.

The building on the waterfront at Engel Park was shut by town officials concerned about unrepaired damage from Hurricane Sandy. 

The fight has raged since then about town proposals to raze the building for waterfront development. Town officials have also cited problems with their agreement with the OBCC, with flood plain requirements and Hudson River pollution issues and more, described on Patch by Town Supervisor Sue Donnelly, who is an OBCC member.

Find out what's happening in Ossining-Croton-On-Hudsonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The controversy even brought a longtime Ossining activist back into politics for a couple of days, as Don DeBar ran an unsuccessful last-minute write-in campaign in support of the OBCC against Donnelly.

The Boat and Canoe Club issued this press release March 6:

Find out what's happening in Ossining-Croton-On-Hudsonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On the morning of Thursday, March 6th, the Ossining Building Department declared the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club in full code compliance and reopened the building, 4 months after it was padlocked on Halloween 2013 due to concerns about non-structural damage from the brackish water raised by Hurricane Sandy the prior year.  

Following the closure, volunteer members of OBCC (in conjunction with other licensed professionals) were granted limited, task-specific access in order to make the needed repairs and upgrades to the historic building by the Town of Ossining, which owns the historic building.

 OBCC Trustee Meaddows Ryan released the following statement: “Working collaboratively in agreement with the Town Board, our team of highly qualified volunteer members has been upgrading the OBCC building at every opportunity throughout the winter in order to become completely compliant with all of the requests made by the Town and building department.  These members have provided their services on their own time, as volunteers, at no cost to the Town or to Ossining taxpayers. All materials expenses for the work over the past four months have also been absorbed by OBCC at no cost to the Town or to taxpayers.

 Today, the final inspection took place, and OBCC was fully cleared of all violations.  The building has been totally updated to current code compliance, and we’re back and better than ever.  The locks were removed, and OBCC access has been fully restored. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all Town and Village officials involved in this matter for their time and effort, as well EVERYBODY who has offered their support. 

 In addition, we are extremely grateful to everyone at the Croton Yacht Club, Ossining Hose Company #1 Engine 96, and Ossining Fire Police and Emergency Squad Rescue 14 for sharing their facilities with OBCC for board meetings, membership meetings, Toys for Tots, and other important events during the time that our space was unavailable to us. 

 The Ossining Boat and Canoe Club’s 2014 season kicks off this upcoming Wednesday, March 12th, at 7:00 p.m., when the first membership meeting of the year will take place for both new members and current members alike.  OBCC offers membership at both boating and non-boating levels, so that there will always be an opportunity for all of Ossining’s community to come down to the waterfront and take part in Ossining’s most historic, cozy, family-oriented and affordable access to the Hudson River. We look forward to sharing the season with you!”

 In January of this year, the Town of Ossining published what have been described as “conceptual drawings” detailing their development plan, under consideration, to tear down and replace the historic Ossining Boat and Canoe Club building with new construction which would also house a restaurant, an objective that many within both OBCC membership and the greater community oppose. Details regarding this study can be found at the Town Of Ossining website.

 Next year, in 2015, the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary as Ossining’s beacon on the Hudson.

For more information, or to contact the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club, please visit www.obcc.org


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here