Conshohocken borough, Malvern Prep, The Haverford School work together to build new boathouse

For years, Malvern Prep operated its rowing program out of two used truck trailers parked next to a landfill, all the while dreaming of some day having its own boathouse.

"I remember thinking at the time that it would be a great spot to film an urban horror movie," recalled William P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr., emeritus trustee at the all-male school.

As a step up, the team moved to a warehouse. Better, but no running water and 150 yards from the river - not a short walk when carrying boats.

Enter an enterprising coach with ties to both Malvern and the Haverford School who in 2009 knocked on the door of the Borough of Conshohocken and proposed a public-private partnership that would solve not only his team's dilemma but open river access to a community that hasn't had it in 150 years.

On Sunday, the Malvern team headed by that coach, Craig Hoffman, officially opened the new gleaming riverfront boathouse that it shares with arch-rival Haverford - also an all-male prep school that just happens to be Hoffman's alma mater - and the borough.

"This is a complete upgrade," said Matt Casaday, 16, a junior at Malvern and member of the team. "It's just really nice."

Years in the making, the new nonprofit venture not only provides a home for two of the most storied high school rowing programs in the nation, but ultimately will give borough children and adults, who otherwise may never have gotten the chance, access to the river and rowing.

"It was a fantastic fit," said Borough Council member Matt Ryan. "It's something we've always wanted."

The borough provided the land, just behind the Riverwalk at Millennium Apartments off Cherry Street, under a long-term lease for $1 a year. Through fund-raising, Haverford and Malvern paid for the $4 million, two-story building. Hoffman and his counterpart at Haverford, Jonathan Stephanik, will coach borough kids and residents who want to learn to row and compete beginning this summer. Their high school rowers will assist as a community service.

"It's really come to fruition," Hoffman said. "What a great thing that two schools that had respect for each other but also a fierce rivalry could come together and build something so special that would allow the children of Conshohocken to benefit."

O'Neill, an international wholesaler of fertilizers, explained just how much of a feat it was.

"Riverfront is either one of two things, highly prized or polluted," he said. "That's why it's been difficult."

The prep schools and borough will begin next month reaching out to local schools and the community to advertise a learn-to-row program. The borough bought and leased 11 boats to get its program started.

The two-story red-and-white block building with a deck overlooking the river is nothing short of a rowing palace, with a long dock, storage for boats on the first level, and meeting rooms, locker rooms, and offices for the teams on the upper level. Malvern and Haverford have their own bays, with a bay in the middle for the borough.

Some college rowing teams would drool over it.

"This is a dream, a fantasy," said James Barker, a national rowing champion and U.S. Rowing Hall of Fame inductee who coached Haverford's team for nearly half a century before retiring a couple of years ago. "The men that I coached made this all possible."

Haverford's side of the boathouse is named after Barker; Malvern's side bears Hoffman's name.

Hoffman was a young rower under Barker and became his assistant coach before moving over to head Malvern's team 18 years ago. Scot Fisher, a radiation oncologist at Jefferson, rowed with him under Barker, served as an assistant coach, and has stayed involved.

"This shows if you have people of good will on all sides of it, you can do it," said Fisher, of Villanova, whose daughter and sons rowed at Shipley. "It just takes a lot of stick-to-itiveness."

Discipline, commitment, and focus are all characteristics nurtured in a rowing program.

"They are lifelong lessons that go far beyond high school and college," said O'Neill, whose son rowed for Malvern and whose three daughters rowed for the Agnes Irwin School.

Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb was another critical member of the project. He is a former Haverford teacher and assistant rowing coach, as well as a parent whose sons rowed and who has remained involved with the school.

"It took a lot of courage," McNabb told those gathered at the boathouse for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "It took a lot of creativity. It took a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to really make it happen."

For Haverford, the new boathouse - which the teams have been using since October - means more time on the river. The team used to row out of a club on Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, which meant a 45-minute commute. The Conshohocken boathouse is a 20-minute ride.

"Rowing here is awesome," said Kyle Bowman, 18, a senior from Newtown Square and member of the Haverford team.

The long-term goal is to build a nationally recognized training center for sculling. A replica of the Gold Cup for rowing - an event that brings the world's highest-ranked single scullers to Philadelphia every year - will be housed in the borough's section of the boathouse.

Hoffman reflected on his time as a member of the Haverford team in the early 1970s. He was the coxswain, the person who commands the crew and steers the boat.

"Rowing taught us how to succeed and fight for what we want to do and win," he said.

And as boathouses go, win he did - still steering and leading the way.

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