Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC), founded in 1858, a year after the Sepoy Mutiny, will get a heritage plaque from the Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage (Intach), Kolkata Chapter.
The club was founded by “the pioneers of rowing in Calcutta”, says L.H. Macklin who compiled A Summary of the Records of The Calcutta Rowing Club 1858-1932.
The club’s records of its inauguration were swept away along with other club properties by the cyclone of 1864. The club was along the Hooghly river from 1858 to 1896.
During 1865-7, the Regatta Course was one mile from Fort Point to Shalimar or from Shalimar to the Botanical Gardens. “The river traffic in those spacious days did not interfere with rowing,” writes Macklin.
Soon enough, with river traffic increasing, the club shifted to Kidderpore in 1897. The club shifted for the third time to Majerhat Bridge in 1907.
The final place for CRC was Dhakuria. The digging of the man-made lake started in 1924 and finished in 1928 when CRC shifted to its final destination.
“The club has a huge history. Since Calcutta was the capital, the governors and viceroys served as its presidents. The first Indian president took over only in 1978,” said club secretary Chandan Roy Choudhury.
“The club is the oldest rowing club in the east and so we are honoured to felicitate CRC with our plaque. It is a Grade One heritage structure listed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation,” said G.M. Kapur of Intach. The plaque will be unveiled on November 19 followed by an adda on football on the eve of the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup.