Floathouse project puts focus on Petaluma River

Petaluma hasn’t had a significant river access project in decades, but there are several exciting upcoming ventures. One in particular is shovel ready.

“The Floathouse Small Craft Rental Center” will occupy a central spot in Petaluma - The Turning Basin. Access to The Floathouse will be on Weller Street, where the public will park and enter, but its presence will be felt from every coordinate of the downtown area.

MAD Architecture’s Mary Dooley specifically added a cupola so it would be visible even when closed at night. She describes it as “an illuminated jewel box floating on the river.” That 360-degree visibility has been an interesting challenge for Dooley.

“Every angle is important,” she said, when people may be viewing it from the water, from riverside restaurants and shops on the high banks, or standing at the office to rent a boat.

And then there’s the tide. The “surface” for which she is designing the 20-foot by 22-foot office falls and rises up to nine feet, twice daily. Dooley is working on the final construction drawings and engineering documents for The Floathouse and a public restroom to be donated to the City of Petaluma.

Building a floating structure requires some extra equipment, and the nonprofit behind The Floathouse, Petaluma Small Craft Center (PSCC), already has purchased the seven fiberglass pilings to which the office dock and 120 feet of low dock will be attached.

The pile-driving season opens July 1, and in an attempt to open the river to all as soon as possible, this winter, PSCC has initiated a capital campaign to build the center and buy the fleet. Executive Director Greg Sabourin, who founded the very successful North Bay Rowing Club more than 30 years ago, says that while PSCC, through The Floathouse, and another project downriver, The Community Boathouse, “builds community through boating by improving access to the river.” Now it’s up to the community to help build The Floathouse with its financial support.

For nine years, PSCC has run summer camps for kids from the NBRC docks and the public dock by the Petaluma Yacht Club. With The Floathouse, the public will have regular downtown access to its “longest park” through affordable rentals of the widest variety of watercraft in the area, and PSCC will expand its programs for people of all ages and interests.

The City’s initiative to expand the public’s access to the watery artery running through its center, Petaluma Water Ways, has 34 projects, including the foot and bicycle bridge at Copeland Crossing and the pocket parks at the ends of G and H streets.

The Floathouse is next in line for realization and full public use. Planning Commissioner Gina Benedetti-Petnic says: “I see the Floathouse as part of the envisioned metamorphosis of the Petaluma turning basin into a downtown waterfront environment that will be the jewel in Petaluma’s crown. It will offer visitors and residents alike many family friendly ways to enjoy the water and riverfront.”

Other exciting river news includes the Friends of The Petaluma River’s securing of a $100,000 grant toward design, permitting and construction of a new dock. The Dahlin Group, project architects for the new homes at Riverfront in southern Petaluma, have offered pro bono services, including preliminary design and drawings, for The Community Boathouse, another Petaluma Water Ways project.

Within a few years, there will be a hopscotch board of boater-friendly low docks, access for all small craft. For years, this river town turned its back on the river. Today it turns back to the river, to build a better future for all residents.

(Maggie Hohle moved her family from the East coast to Petaluma in 2007 and immediately fell in love with rowing on the Petaluma River thanks to the North Bay Rowing Club. She spends her spare time working towards river access for all on “Petaluma’s Longest Park.”)