THUNDER BAY — The repairs to the Boulevard Lake Dam, and the COVID-19 pandemic, together have created a perfect storm for damaging the fortunes of the Lakehead Canoe Club.
Commodore Volker Kromm issued an appeal Wednesday for support from club members, the community, and city council to clear the organization's debt and secure its future.
"We are taking on water, and the boat is beginning to list," Kromm said in a statement.
The canoe club has been a fixture on Boulevard Lake since just before the 1981 Canada summer games.
It has provided youth programming and charitable dragon boat festivals annually, although the last dragon boat event was in August 2018.
Kromm noted that a summer paddlecamp program offered children and youth a safe place to learn, mix with their peers and develop leadership skills.
The club is funded by its members, nominal program fees, and festival services and rentals.
"We were sustainable. Then the inevitable Boulevard Lake dam repairs surfaced," Kromm said.
While acknowledging the necessity of the repairs, he said delays in starting the work meant that the hosting of programs and events was out of the club's control.
Kromm said the organziation was unable to make commitments to children, parents, and communities hosting festivals without knowing for certain that the lake would be available.
The onset of the pandemic then stopped everything.
"We quickly depleted our financial reserves, and are now unable to pay our city taxes, insurance property lease," Kromm said.
Facing the prospect of another lost season next year due to the work on the dam, the canoe club plans to ask the city to put a stay on tax payments, and will try to arrange for fundraisers.
But Kromm said the organization stands a better chance of recovery if the city agrees to "minimal lake channel dredging" at Boulevard.
That, he said, would help make Boulevard Lake a national paddling event host site for Dragon Boat Canada and Canoe/Kayak Canada.
Kromm said he hopes the club can still rebuild through the use of smaller dragon boats, ice dragon boat events in the winter, the hosting of international competitions, and rental services to corporations and outlying communities.
He plans to reach out to past club members to brainstorm for more ideas.
