Mystic River Boathouse Park Ribbon Cutting Opens a New Stretch of the River to the Public

Mystic River Boathouse Park Ribbon Cutting Ceremony celebrates the opening of a project nearly a decade in the making on Saturday, September 19, transforming a former industrial brownfield into a new public waterfront park, community rowing center, and permanent home for Stonington High School Crew.

The ceremony runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at 123 Greenmanville Avenue, just north of Mystic Seaport Museum.

But this is much bigger than a ribbon-cutting for another small town park.

The roughly 1.5-acre property includes new public access to a portion of the upper Mystic River where much of the shoreline has historically been privately owned. It also incorporates the Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse, rowing and public-access docks, a pedestrian launch for non-motorized watercraft, ADA-accessible waterfront features, a living shoreline and recreational space.

And getting it built took about 10 years.

It Started With a Vote in 2016

Stonington residents approved the project at a town meeting in 2016, authorizing the purchase of the Greenmanville Avenue property.

The location was attractive for an obvious reason.

It sits directly on the Mystic River.

But underneath that waterfront property was a much more complicated story.

The peninsula had been shaped during Mystic’s industrial era, in part through deposits of coal slag and other industrial material associated with the neighboring Rossie Velvet Mill.

That meant the town wasn’t simply buying an empty waterfront lot and turning it into grass and docks.

Environmental remediation had to come first.

In 2021, Stonington secured a $753,889 state grant to help remediate the contaminated property.

That was only one of the obstacles.

Then There Was a Historic House That Couldn’t Simply Be Demolished

Sitting on the property was another complication: the Lovelace House.

Because the house was located within a historic district, plans had to accommodate its preservation rather than simply removing it.

The State Historic Preservation Office became involved, and Stonington Community Rowing committed to helping relocate and rehabilitate the building as part of the overall project.

The house had to be incorporated into a substantially larger plan that was already trying to balance a public park, environmental cleanup, shoreline restoration and a modern rowing facility.

There were also objections to an earlier boathouse design.

Plans were revised.

Permits were needed from state agencies and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Costs rose.

And the years accumulated.

By 2025, the Price Had Reached About $5.3 Million

By the time construction was finally ready to move forward in 2025, the overall project had grown to approximately $5.3 million.

Funding came together through a combination of state and federal grants, town funding and private fundraising associated with Stonington Community Rowing.

Stonington had assembled roughly $4.9 million for the public portion before the Board of Finance approved an additional $400,000 in June 2025.

That finally cleared one of the project’s last major financial obstacles.

Construction began later that year.

The September 19 ribbon cutting is the other end of that story.

The New Park Gives Mystic Something Surprisingly Rare: More Public River Access

Mystic is defined by its river.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to reach the water.

Large portions of the Mystic River shoreline are occupied by private homes, businesses, marinas and other properties.

The new Mystic River Boathouse Park creates another publicly accessible piece of waterfront north of Mystic Seaport Museum.

The park includes lawn and landscaped areas, waterfront access and ADA-accessible coastal walkways.

More importantly for people who want to get onto the river rather than simply look at it, the project includes a pedestrian boat ramp, access piers and floating docks.

The public launch is intended for non-motorized personal watercraft, opening another access point for activities such as kayaking and paddling.

That’s one of the reasons town officials have consistently described the project as more than a rowing facility.

The rowing program occupies an important part of the property.

The park belongs to the public.

The Shoreline Itself Is Part of the Project

Look closely at the water’s edge and another piece of the project emerges.

Instead of treating the riverbank solely as infrastructure, designers incorporated a living shoreline using natural materials, native vegetation and tidal-wetland enhancements.

Living shorelines can help stabilize waterfront property while maintaining or improving habitat and allowing the edge of the land to behave more naturally than a continuous hardened seawall.

The Mystic project includes tidal-wetland enhancements and shoreline sills as part of that approach.

RACE Coastal Engineering also designed the project’s piers, gangways, rowing docks and pedestrian boat ramp.

Even the way the floating docks are secured reflects the needs of rowers.

Rather than conventional pilings that could interfere with long racing shells and oars, the docks use helix-style moorings and elastomeric lines that move with the changing tide.

It’s an unusually technical detail for a public park.

But this isn’t an ordinary park.

Stonington Crew Finally Gets a Home

For the Stonington High School rowing program, September 19 represents something even bigger.

The program has existed for nearly three decades without a permanent facility of its own.

For approximately 20 years, Mystic Seaport Museum hosted Stonington Crew, allowing generations of students to train and launch from museum property.

The new facility changes that.

Stonington Community Rowing will operate from the Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse, giving the high school program a permanent home while expanding rowing opportunities beyond the school team.

The boathouse includes two bays for shells, oars, coach boats and other equipment.

Upstairs is a roughly 4,500-square-foot training center with rowing machines and strength-training equipment.

The broader plan calls for rowing opportunities for youth and adults at different experience levels, including recreational, competitive and adaptive rowing.

Jim Dietz Is One of American Rowing’s Major Figures

The name on the rowing center isn’t ceremonial window dressing.

Jim Dietz is one of the most accomplished figures in American rowing.

Dietz represented the United States at three Olympic Games as a rower, competed internationally for years and later built a long coaching career.

His rowing résumé includes numerous national championships and international competitions, and he became closely associated with southeastern Connecticut rowing.

Naming the community rowing center for Dietz connects the new facility with a much larger American rowing tradition.

Members of the Dietz family are expected to participate in Saturday’s celebration.

Hart Perry’s Name Carries Its Own Rowing History

The boathouse is named for another towering figure in the sport.

Hart Perry spent decades as executive director of the National Rowing Foundation and became one of the best-known administrators and advocates in American rowing.

He was also deeply connected to Mystic.

Perry helped establish and develop rowing activity associated with Mystic Seaport and played a central role in the growth of the Coastweeks Regatta, which became a fixture on the Mystic River.

Members of the Perry family are also expected at Saturday’s opening.

Putting the names Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse together therefore says something about the ambitions for the facility.

It’s a community boathouse with unusually deep connections to the history of American rowing.

The Coastweeks Regatta Has Already Come Home

There’s an especially nice piece of timing surrounding the ribbon cutting.

Just six days earlier, on September 13, the 29th Coastweeks Regatta returned to the Mystic River.

The race had previously been hosted by Mystic Seaport Museum and became one of the early head races of the fall rowing calendar.

For its return in 2026, Stonington Community Rowing hosted the regatta from the new Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse.

The approximately 2-kilometer course began upriver and finished near the new boathouse park and Delamar Mystic.

So although the ceremonial ribbon isn’t cut until September 19, the new rowing facility has already begun doing exactly what its supporters spent years trying to make possible.

Boats are back on the river.

The Plan Extends Beyond Rowing

The project’s organizers have consistently envisioned the property as a community resource rather than a private rowing compound.

Stonington Community Rowing has identified partnerships with Stonington Recreation, Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center and Mystic Seaport Museum as avenues for expanding programming.

That could bring marine science education, health and recreation activities and other programs onto the property in addition to rowing.

The town has similarly discussed using nonprofit partnerships to expand river access for children, families and residents from different backgrounds.

That’s significant because a new boathouse alone would primarily benefit people who row.

A public waterfront park can serve everyone else too.

Someone can launch a kayak.

Someone can walk down to the river.

Someone can sit on the lawn.

A child can learn something about the estuary.

Someone who has lived in Stonington for decades but never had a reason to enter a rowing facility can simply use the waterfront.

Saturday Celebrates the People Who Kept It Alive

The ribbon cutting is being organized with Stonington Community Rowing, the Town of Stonington and the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce.

The Dietz and Perry families are expected to join members of the Stonington community for the ceremony.

That feels appropriate for a project that survived environmental problems, preservation requirements, redesigns, permitting, funding gaps, rising construction costs and nearly a decade between public approval and completion.

There is one important parking instruction for Saturday.

Visitors may park behind the Rossie Mill or in Mystic Seaport Museum’s North Parking Lot.

Organizers specifically ask attendees not to use Velvet Lane.

Then walk down toward the river.

After ten years, there’s finally a park waiting there.

Details

Event: Mystic River Boathouse Park Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Time: 10–11:30 a.m.
Location: Mystic River Boathouse Park
Address: 125 – 129 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
Hosts/Partners: Stonington Community Rowing, Town of Stonington and Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce
Featured Facilities: Jim Dietz Rowing Center and Hart Perry Boathouse
Park Features: Public waterfront access, lawn and landscaped areas, ADA-accessible waterfront features, living shoreline, rowing docks, access piers and pedestrian launch for non-motorized watercraft
Parking: Available behind Rossie Mill and at the Mystic Seaport Museum North Parking Lot
Important: Do not park on Velvet Lane
Admission: No admission charge is listed for the public ribbon-cutting ceremony
Ceremony: Members of the Dietz and Perry families and the Stonington community are invited to participate in the opening celebration

More information is available at the Event Website link below.

 

 

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.