City’s new $192,000 boathouse unveiled at Pettibone

Along with storage, structure will also be used for education programs.

Seven days a week, Pettibone Park will now have canoe, kayak and paddleboard rentals.

A new boathouse and shelter was unveiled Tuesday at the park, just a short walk from Pettibone Beach.

The building, which cost $192,000, has a unique design, which was the plan by the HSR architects. 

“The look of a wave,” HSR designer Kurt Schroeder said, “So if you look from a distance, the roof is an interesting shape. Also, if you imagine the path an oar would travel…”

The boathouse, which was funded by the Pettibone Boat Club and user fees — no property tax money was used — won’t just be for storage.

“We will be using it for outdoor education programs, as far as our day camp program and our fishing program,” Jared Flick with the La Crosse Parks and Rec. Dept. said.

Fowler and Hammer also took part in building the shelter. Schroeder says the structure also was built on high land to protect the canoes and other equipment from occasional flooding of the Mississippi River.