Building delays spell trouble for Low Tide membership

bveneri@hotmail.com

We all know that housing the homeless costs money.
In 2001, the dues for membership in New Bedford's Low Tide Yacht Club went up from $35 in to $100, and new members were charged an additional $200 initiation fee. Each member was assessed a one-time $100 fee to help defray costs for the yacht club's new building in New Bedford's South End, scheduled to open this past summer.

Trouble is, the new building wasn't ready -- not for this summer nor this fall. Needless to say, membership in the club went down, and the club operated during 2001 without a home.
"We expected to be in the new building this summer," said 2000-2001 Commodore Mark Thornhill. When unanticipated delays coupled with the condition of the building the club was using at Victory Park forced the club to move, members began meeting in the home of Donald Gracia, a FRMEA/LTYC member who lives in the city's south end.
The LTYC needed to assess and increase fees "to help with the cost of moving into a building," said Thornhill. That building, beset by contract and construction woes, won't be ready for occupancy before December 2001 or January 2002.
The site, near the Community Boating Center on the east side of Fort Taber in New Bedford's South End, was nearly deserted on a sunny day earlier this week. A construction engineer at the site Monday said the roofers were nearly finished and, "once the roof goes on, the inside work will proceed much faster."
The LTYC -- incorporated as the Fort Rodman Marine Education Association/Low Tide Yacht Club -- was founded in 1973 and occupied the old World War II officers' quarters at Fort Rodman. In the mid-80s, a fire forced FRMEA/LTYC into another building at Fort Rodman. In 1993, they relocated to the old Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical School, also at Fort Rodman, to make way for the new sewage treatment plant.
In 1994, Low Tide members began meeting at the Victory Park warming hut, -- again in the city's South End -- where meetings and events continued through the summer of 2000.
Work on the Fort Taber facility, which will house not only the yacht club but also the Fort Taber Historical Association Museum, began two years ago.
Paul Barton, Low Tide Yacht Club member and a member of the building committee, noted that the boom economy over the past two years meant that government-funded or quasi-public construction fell behind because subcontractors had too much work.
"If the economy is slow," Barton said, "(the building) would have got done a little sooner."
Not that anyone is complaining. Neither the construction engineer I spoke to, nor the Low Tide Yacht Club spokesmen, had complaints about the city's role in getting the building completed.
The building is "behind schedule," said Barton, "but it's not through any fault of the city of New Bedford." There were problems with the initial contractor, and the contract had to be rebid.
"Mayor (Fred) Kalisz has been good to us," Barton noted, saying the city's representative for Fort Taber construction -- Mike McCormack -- has always been hard-working and cooperative, asking Barton about the clubs needs and wants, and keeping club members up to date on developments.
Outgoing Commodore Thornhill is concerned about dwindling membership numbers.
"We lost one-third of our membership," he said, when the dues went up and the added assessment took effect. People who dropped out felt they weren't in the building, so why should they pay?" he said.
Membership is now under 100 people, he said, and that includes "life members" who pay no dues. The membership cloud has a silver lining, though.
"A lot of people we lost weren't from around here," said Thornhill. "They were members because it cost $35 a year." Membership dues for other area yacht clubs ranges from more than $100 to more than $500 annually.
Thornhill pointed out the club's successes in 2001. The LTYC raised more than $1,000 for the I. H. Schwartz Rehabilitation Center. They had one of the largest racing fleets ever over the four summer series (more than 22 boats). And, the annual Steak-Out and Auction raised more than $4,000 for the FRMEA/LTYC scholarship programs.
Included in the LTYC's funding are 20 partial and full scholarships awarded to inner city young people who attend programs at the Community Boating Center. Thornhill and other LTYC members continue to teach indoor sailing workshops at Voc-Tech, and plan to move all educational programs to the new building when construction is completed and the building is turned over to the city.
"We want to increase activities with an increase in membership," said Thornhill. "All of our activities are family-oriented." And all activities are open to members and the public.
The Low Tide Yacht Club plans to be the host site for the 2002 New England Beetle Cat Boating Association championships -- the first time this 80-year-old event has ever been held in the city of New Bedford.
And, once the new building opens, the yacht club plans to co-host a gala opening party with the city of New Bedford and the Fort Taber Historical Association.
Membership has gone down before, Thornhill said, noting a marked downturn in the mid-80s.
"We bounced back," he said. "We're like a Phoenix -- we'll be back again."

Barbara Veneri sails a 28 ft. Soverel yawl in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound. To reach her, send e-mail to: bveneri@hotmail.com, fax (508) 997-7491, or call the Standard-Times Sports Dept. at: 508-979-4460.