Harold Alfond Boathouse

The Alfond Boathouse was built in 1990 with funding from Harold Alfond, a philanthropist from New England and partial owner of the Boston Red Sox. In addition to providing funds for the building, Alfond also supported the refurbishing of the shoreline of Lake Virginia to create better conditions for the various water activities, such as sailing, waterskiing, boating, and canoeing. As Alfond remarked on the occasion in 1988: “This gift represents a major contribution to the quality of campus life at Rollins.”

The 3,500-square-foot boathouse, which replaced the Lake Virginia Boathouse, includes classrooms, offices, dressing rooms, and storage space for the various Rollins water sports teams. The architecture of the boathouse makes use of stucco, Spanish tile, and window openings protected with roof overhangs. The internal structure of the building relies on natural woods such as rough-hewn timber, which fits into the Spanish-style facades throughout the Rollins campus. Moreover, a second-story observation point provides enhanced security for the athletes on the lake. The boathouse includes roll-up garage style doors and hydraulic lifts to store the boats off the water.