A growing rowers club is looking for a new home base and north Richland might have just the spot.

The Tri-Cities Rowing Association has been dipping its paddles in the Columbia River since around 2022 and has grown in both members and boats since then. With the future of its current launch point in limbo, the club has been on the hunt for a new one.

At the same time, the Port of Benton has been seeking stakeholder input on waterfront property development, including land it owns just south of the Willow Pointe neighborhood in north Richland. It’s part of the port’s efforts to develop a comprehensive waterfront plan.

The rowing group thinks that land could be the perfect space to develop a launch point and boathouse. 

The port is encouraged by the TCRA’s interest and looks forward to continuing discussions about how the vision could complement its waterfront development goals, said Brandin Lopez, the port’s engineering and capital development senior manager, in an email to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.

Lopez also noted that the port has not yet completed the master planning process for this property and funding for the project has not been included in the 2026 budget. In addition, 2027 budget planning is currently focused on federal project commitments and operational funding needs. As a result, developing collaborative partnerships and identifying funding opportunities will be important to advancing the rowing group’s potential project.

Willow Pointe homeowner and recreational paddler Steve Agni stands ready to do his part to help advance it. He’s championing a spot along the river where people are already launching unpowered watercraft.

Agni has a background in commercial recreation development in Alaska, where he primarily lives, and he envisioned the land south of his Richland home as a row and paddle launch area. So he cold called one of TCRA’s board members, David Curran, who was excited about the idea.

They pitched the idea of not only a launch point, but a facility with equipment storage, social space and food and beverage services to port commissioners during a May meeting. 

Rowing club

Almost 60 members strong, TCRA rows from March or April to mid-November with plenty of land training throughout the winter. The club offers a “learn to row” course, where those new to rowing can train over the winter, learn to row in the spring, and try to prepare for a fall regatta. 

Some members join TCRA in various regattas throughout the season, while others come for the exercise and community. 

The club tries to stay competitive, Curran said, and has built up its fleet over the years so that everyone who comes to practices can be in a boat. The club works to buy its shells secondhand, often from other clubs that have recently acquired new ones, and then paints and patches them up. 

The club also recently outfitted a used trailer it bought last year to haul its boats to competitions. 

Costs are covered by a $300 annual membership fee. 

For the past four years, TCRA has been launching its boats from Osprey Point. JMS Development, the company that intended to develop Port of Pasco’s Osprey Point, has let TCRA store their shells in the yard at 904 Ainsworth Ave. 

The arrangement has been a good one: storing oars and boats, plus giving TCRA members the opportunity to use the facilities there. 

But it’s not without its drawbacks. It’s about 300 to 400 yards to the water, Curran said, a long way to carry the boats. The future of Osprey Pointe is murky, too, after the partnership between the port and JMS ended at the end of 2025. The new year saw the parties working through legal entanglements following that break. 

As TCRA has started looking for a new home for the club, the collaboration with Agni and the port has been perfect timing. Curran said that TCRA has looked at several different locations, and Willow Pointe has a lot of support.  

Building plans

Proponents of the rowing center now want to do their due diligence and research to show that their proposal would work. 

Agni said they’ve proposed a ground lease for an area of about 60,000 square feet where they could start with a launch ramp, then potentially develop a larger facility, called the Columbia Row and Paddle Center, later on. 

A proposed site plan included in their port presentation shows a two-story boat house with decks, nearby staging and stowing areas, parking, a multiuse court for pickleball and basketball, and a sand volleyball court. The main building would have space for the storage of sculls and shells; a rental and sales area; space for TCRA offices, exercise and locker rooms; and a food and beverage sales area, if there’s enough activity to support it. 

It’s a common setup in rowing communities, Agni said. 

But to start with, the group is looking for an access point, then a slab in a covered and fenced area to store boats and equipment.  

Community and tourism

Rowing as a sport has a long tradition, but there’s also been newfound interest in similar watersports. Agni said that “interest in the paddling sport is just blowing up, it’s just increasing dramatically.”

They’ve researched various rowing and paddling centers and found that it’s common to have a center anchored by a rowing club, but inclusive of other paddle sports as well. 

“It creates just a great opportunity for folks to engage in low-barrier-to-entry good recreation,” Agni said. “And it’s part of this really growing and burgeoning area of amateur sports as an economic opportunity.”

A home base like this would also give TCRA the opportunity to launch youth rowing, Curran said, which the group hopes to pursue in the future. 

The homeowners group has been supportive of the group’s efforts, Agni said. “I believe that … as a homeowner in the area, a facility of this type will be very supportive and will enhance values for myself and my neighbors,” he said. 

Curran said a row and paddle center also would help improve that area of north Richland, which is largely industrial apart from the Willow Pointe neighborhood. 

“The community benefits to the north Richland area further augment or contribute to this sports tourism that is growing in the Tri-Cities,” Agni said. Coupled with the Tri-Cities’ favorable weather, he said he thinks the center would draw rowers over from the western side of the state. “We’re very confident that the Tri-Cities is prime to support rowing,” Curran said.

Go to: rowtc.org.