Students from Diman recently preformed roof construction work on the new Bay Coast Rowing Center. Far left bottom row, Joe Mullaney, Founder/CEO of Bay Coast Rowing Center; Paul Cloutier, VP, BayCoast Financial Services stands third from left, bottom row: Marie Pellegrino, SVP/CFO of BayCoast Bank is third from right, bottom row. Patrick Bowen of the Diman Property Maintenance department stands far right on bottom row; Maria Torres, Assistant Principal of Technical Affairs at Diman stands far right, top row.

SWANSEA/FALL RIVER – Students from Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School literally helped raise the roof recently on the in-construction new Bay Coast Rowing Center in Fall River, a project financially supported by a $25,000 grant from BayCoast Bank.

The new center on the 1,550-acre South Watuppa Pond in Fall River will make the sport of crew accessible to inner-city youth and is expected to draw people of all ages and rowing abilities to experience and enjoy the activity.

The property and acreage directly on the pond was made available to the Bay Coast Rowing Center, a non-profit charitable organization, at a discounted rate by the City of Fall River.

Once completed, the new 120-foot boathouse, in construction on the former John Boyd Center site on the Watuppa’s western banks, will accommodate storage of as many as 40 crew shells of various lengths.

The project received a boost of activity over the past couple weeks when the Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School students volunteered their time to help construct the boathouse roof and paint the outside of the building.

Diman students, under the direction of Maria Torres, Assistant Principal of Technical Affairs and Patrick Bowen of the school’s Building and Property Maintenance Department, began work at the rowing center last fall and will have the exterior, including a new roof, completed by June. Interior work will continue in the fall.

In the meantime, the Bay Coast Rowing Center’s spring rowing program is going full speed, with students from four high schools and Bristol Community College participating. The Rowing Center is presently in talks with other area higher learning institutions that have expressed interest in the fall rowing program.

Recently, the Center launched a Women’s Learn to Row program. A program for paraplegic rowers is presently in the works for the future and a buoyed course – the first in New England – is on the wish list for this fall.