Morgan House was eight years old the first time he saw the Lake Lanier Olympic Venue. It spurred in him a love of kayaking, and in 2008, House was an alternate at the Beijing Olympic games.
Now, House is the venue’s manager. On Thursday, he’s kicking off a $10 million renovation to the facility that he hopes will bring even more people to row at the lake.
“You get to paddle on the same course that Olympic gold medalists paddled on,” he said. “If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.”
The facility is on a peninsula in Lake Lanier, and has a patio on the lake near a tower where judges sit to time races, and VIPs can gather. On the other side of the peninsula, watercraft are stored in a boathouse where events can be held.
The first phase of the renovation is about making the 20-year-old venue more accessible. A $1.7 million project will add ADA-accessible ramps and a bathroom to the 1996 Olympic timing tower, and expand a service building to include a powder room and more space for concessions.
Other renovation phases include the addition of a large pavilion and outdoor fireplace and the expansion of usable space in the boathouse, which House said was getting “pretty run down.” There, small windows will be removed and large ones added to take advantage of sunset views of Lake Lanier.
“It’s the most beautiful view of the lake you can imagine, you just can’t see it,” he said.
More than $1 million has been raised for the first phase, but the timing of the other renovations has yet to be determined.
There has been increased interest in Paralympic events at the venue, and the ADA renovations will mean the space will be better able to host such events. Now, House said, it’s “not really adequate” for Paralympic sports, even though it has already hosted some.
“It was built for the Olympics and only the Olympics,” House said. “It’s a two-week period. No one knew it would be here 20 years later.”
Other Olympic venues have been repurposed, torn down or abandoned. In Gwinnett, leaders have long been trying to find a use for the Stone Mountain Tennis Center, but it's been difficult and the venue has been deteriorating.
At Lake Lanier, House said renovations could inspire more people to take up kayaking and other sports. It will also bring more visitors to the lake, and make the area a more viable option for weddings and other private events.
House said rowing and kayak clubs are thriving at the venue, and awareness of it is increasing. Next May, it will host the Pan American Championships for sprint kayak, which is the last qualifier for North, South and Central America before the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. The Dragon Boat World Championships will be held there in 2018.
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