Bill Sanford nimbly led a long line into the Barnes Center like someone younger than 80. He proudly claims that milestone, as the first in his family to reach that age. He still works, but used the week before his enshrinement at Syracuse to watch his grandson play baseball in Virginia.
SU dedicated its new rowing facility to Sanford on Sunday. With sleek white walls, bright natural and fluorescent light, with walls commemorating the program’s history, it stood in contrast to the dungeon Sanford knew coaching crew at Syracuse between 1968-2002.
"When I was coaching here, this place was like a toilet,” Sanford said. “If I went down to New York City and went down to one of those subway men’s rooms. That’s what this thing looked like almost. It was very dark, dismal, but now it’s so bright and beautiful.”
A black-and-white still of the old Syracuse tank room on display at the opening of the new one. Courtesy of Syracuse University.
The stark transformation of the tank room attracted roughly 100 people to its opening ceremony. Once buried underneath the former Archbold Gymnasium, the refurbished William Sanford & Family rowing center is the first door on the right inside the Arch’s front entrance. Current rowers crowded into the room alongside former athletes who searched for their names on the ceremonial walls.
They all knew the old, dark facility needed replacement. Dave Reischman and Luke McGee, the current men’s and women’s rowing coaches, didn’t need to petition administration. They knew SU couldn’t close Archbold for one project, so they waited.
Syracuse University announced that Archbold Gymnasium was part of its campus framework plan in 2016. The rowing community saw its stock rise, with $50 million estimated to go toward the building they’re housed in.
“There wasn't air-conditioning or a very good HVAC system in here. We knew when we first started thinking about Arch, that they were going to have to change the entrance and some of the other aspects of the building,” Reischman said. “Everybody was 100% behind it from the beginning.”
The university did not disclose the specific cost of the rowing facility, but Reischman touted Charles Harris, James Breuer’s family, Peter and Jeanne Henriques and Wendy Hubble as donors. He wondered during his speech how Hubble’s son married another coxswain, the communicator in rowing. His joke landed on the right audience.
The new Syracuse tank room at the Barnes Center.
Archbold closed in 2018 and the construction worked around the rowing teams’ schedules. Between Thanksgiving and March 1, 2019, the teams utilized the old tank room while jackhammers rummaged the building around them. When the weather improved, they transferred between their boat house in Liverpool and alternate locations.
The new room mirrors the old. Rowing machines, known as ergs to crew people, face two pools of water separated by eight oars and chairs mimicking a boat. The tank remains nearly unchanged. Reischman now awaits his key to run the water through the pools as resistance.
Key differences lie on the walls that honor Olympians and letter-winners, dating back to 1900. Those aspiring to go up there too can now squeeze 15-minute practices between classes. The tank is open for midday rowing, with coaches one minute from the quad to discuss technique. Indoor training allows them to break up redundant rowing on lakes, with closer visibility to coaches and protection from the elements.
McGee’s team moved into the room prior to its ceremonial opening. He recruited from the new offices and utilized the conference rooms that adjoin the space already. On Sunday, they featured black-and-white photos, reminding how far they’ve come.
In this file photo from 1994, Bill Sanford directs his eight-man team on Onondaga Lake.
The past did not fall with Archbold, though. Sanford remains close to the program and occasionally joins Reischman at the boat house. He invited 20 members of his extended family to stand behind him during his speech.
After serving in the military, Sanford arrived at SU in 1959, earning 50 percent off his $1,000 tuition due to his Methodist affiliation. He became the freshman rowing coach after graduation.
Bill Sanford (back, center) and his extended family opened Syracuse's rowing facility on Sunday, September 22, 2019.
His tenures in the Onondaga County Legislature and NY State Assembly ended, but he remains involved in the community through boards and his consulting business, Brown & Sanford. For many years, he advocated for the cleanup of Onondaga Lake, a former rowing venue.
Kris, his daughter, coached the Syracuse women’s team prior to McGee. Both fell under the umbrella of the ‘& family’ tag, which Sanford demanded be attached to his name that people will pass upon entering the tank.
“You can take great pride in having your names associated with this,” he said, tearing up. “When you come here with your children or with your friends, and you see that name ‘& family,’ that’s you … you’re part of that. You’re part of my family.”
