Rowing club location treading water

Apr 9, 2026 By MEGHAN BRADBURY 7 min read

The fate of the Cape Coral Rowing Club may involve more than the expense of fencing at what they thought would be their new location.

Cape Coral City Council discussion, which began Wednesday with what type of material that should be used to enclose the club’s equipment at Tropicana Park, switched to some council members expressing safety concerns about the organization using the park as its base of operations.

The Cape Coral Rowing Club has 44 members — 14 adults, 11 of whom live in Cape Coral, and 29 youths, 22 of whom live in the Cape. The club also has an agreement with Bishop Verot High School, as it is a sport at the private school, which is why there are some members living outside of the city.

City staff will finalize the proposed agreement to come to council calling for a required vegetative buffer with some type of chain link with slats.

City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner said with the council memorializing certain actions with the rowing club, it must come before the elected board for a vote.

Moving the club to another park was also discussed at the workshop.

Mayor John Gunter said the city should have both the Cape Coral Dragon Boat Club and the Cape Coral Rowing Club located at Crystal Lake, adjacent to the park proper and not in the middle of the acreage.

“That is what the residents want. Are we here to make decisions for a nonprofit organization? I want to find a home for them. I don’t know if this home is the right place at Tropicana Park,” Gunter said of offering the rowing club space at Crystal Lake instead of Tropicana which is across from the planned Gulf Gateway Resort & Marina Village project. “Residents are opposed to having the Rowing Club at the park in the middle of the park.”

Gunter said moving the club further north would provide a safer environment. He said when the development is build on the Seven Islands site, the number of residential units and water access for those units will turn into a very busy area.

“I think in the long run it would be a safer situation,” Councilmember Laurie Lehmann said. “There are many citizens up around Tropicana that are not happy about the situation.”

Saundra Weston, the Cape Coral Rowing Club’s youth coach, and director for youth rowing, said the safety issue for rowing has nothing to do with boaters but the path to the water.

“The path to water is the single most difficult issue to solve for boaters,” she said, due to the weight of the boats they are carrying.

Weston said the shoreline at Crystal Lake has a 12- to 15-foot drop.

“I can’t take this little configuration and pull it up there, it’s not possible,” she said. “We can’t get into water safely there without a ridiculous amount of money.”

Councilmember Dr. Derrick Donnell said he thought they were going to talk specifically about the concrete wall around the proposed site at Tropicana. He said the city got inundated with emails last Friday.

“I am not addressing this movement,” Donnell said about changing locations.

Others spoke in favor of keeping the club at Tropicana Park.

“The mayor and I sat on this council six years ago when we discussed this location. We talked about the Seven Islands coming. We talked about the potential for that,” said Councilmember Jennifer Nelson-Lastra, who was in favor of keeping the club at Tropicana Park.

Gunter said he would be a “no” vote to keeping the Cape Coral Rowing Club at Tropicana Park.

“My loyalty is to residents and not a nonprofit with 40 members,” he said.

Before the relocation discussion began, Weston shared the various options for equipment buffers. 

Those included a chain link fence, panel fence, natural hedge, concrete, and slated fence, which all vary in cost.

Weston said she made the perimeter buffer for an 80-foot run to keep equipment from residents and to be good neighbors.

“I didn’t realize there was some need to obscure our boats from other boats,” she said.

Donnell said a concrete wall would not look well, as it would not blend in with what is already at Tropicana Park. He said affording the buffer or not, is not the issue, it is about what is best for citizens.

Many of the council members agreed natural shrubbery would be best for obscuring the equipment.

Many of the members from the Cape Coral Rowing Club spoke during citizen’s input, all sharing the impact the nonprofit has had on their lives.

Director Ginny Bunch said the club had been approved for the Tropicana Park location and now there is influence on council members against from the Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association.

“This movement is not about safety, but inconvenience with boats,” she said. “There was seven years to address this in the development of Tropicana Park.”

Bunch asked that council not to make it political and do the right thing. 

Ryan Fitzsimmons, a senior at Oasis High School, said the club has developed him into a person beyond what he could even describe. He said he is healthier physically, mentally, and spiritually.

“Rowing is a unique and highly accessible sport from youth athletes to adults of all ages. It promotes physical health and teamwork. What makes rowing especially valuable is it is low impact, inclusive and lifelong,” Vice President Anne Howard said. “Tropicana Park represents an important opportunity to create a stable and long-term home for activity.”

She said it is about building something to bring people together, while supporting a healthy lifestyle and connecting people with water in a positive way.

Weston said she spends hundreds of hours of volunteer time trying to make it clear that your word is your bond and commitment matters a lot. She said it is heartbreaking to have young people witness what they heard Wednesday.

“We are arguing over a park and it is mind blowing to me that a lobbying group has the level of influence that it has,” Weston said.

She said everyone in the town pays for city parks, and the unique aspect about Tropicana Park is water access.

Weston said the solution that, instead of finishing what they started, is to start over again, is something she did not agree with. She said it is hard to look at any other way than an ulterior motive.

“I want to believe that you care like I care for all those people and I am struggling,” Weston said.

Nelson-Lastra thanked those who spoke, as she was hopeful it shed some light for council consideration.

“I am not going to go back on my word. I will support what I supported six years ago,” she said.

Councilmember Bill Steinke said he looks at providing things for the youth, which is a vital component of an ever-changing city.

“I think it needs to stay where it is,” he said of Tropicana Park. “When people see an activity going on, it is when they ask questions. The opportunity for other children and other families to see those enjoying the sport is much greater at Tropicana. I would encourage my other colleagues to reconsider.”

Gunter finished the discussion by saying he did not hear any of the council members stating they did not want the club to be somewhere in the community.

To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com