2 pols step up to try to keep regatta in town for 2010

Two city councilmen said yesterday that they will try to help keep the Dad Vail Regatta on the Schuylkill - where thousands of scullers have raced in the event annually since 1953.

Councilmen Bill Green and Curtis Jones Jr. said they were hoping that some combination of lowered fees and city funding would keep the regatta from moving out of town.

Backers from Rumson, N.J., have sent regatta organizers a $100,000 check to show their interest in hosting the 2010 race, according a source who asked not to be identified.

For those pushing to keep the regatta in Philadelphia, financing is key.

"First, we have to make the city justify the costs and make sure they understand the [regatta's] economic impact, which is why another jurisdiction has figured that out and paid them to come," Green said.

"The regatta spotlights us in a positive light," Jones said, "and it's one of our signature events. We're going to have to take a hard look at the budget."

Officials from the Fairmount Park Commission, the Managing Director's Office, the City Representative's Office and regatta organizers are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the situation.

Race organizers sent a letter dated Nov. 2 to city and state officials warning that the race may have to be moved because city costs have doubled in recent years and corporate giving has dipped by more than 60 percent.

Jack Galloway, chairman of the Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee (DVROC), declined to discuss the letter until after he meets with city officials on Friday. He declined to say how much money would be needed to keep the regatta, which is run by volunteers, in Philadelphia.

In the letter, DVROC President Jim Hanna warned that levies and other charges had drained DVROC's treasury, and that without new funds or city relief in 2010, they would not be able to host a regatta in 2011.

The Dad Vail Regatta is not the only regatta that has been affected by the weak economy.

Earlier this year, the Philadelphia Frostbite Regatta decided to move to the Cooper River in Camden County for its 2009 staging because city budget troubles had threatened to sink the event, said race organizer Ken Shaw.