CLEVELAND — When Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River are covered in snow and ice, there’s a special place for water lovers to go get their workouts in. Tucked away in a brick building, The Foundry with its storied past in Cleveland’s Irishbend neighborhood is training a new wave of athletes in the sport of rowing.
Inside The Foundry, founder Gina Trebilcock trains athletes and gets them ready for spring rowing using a unique indoor rowing tank house that resembles a flowing river.
The building The Foundry sits in now at 1831 Columbus Road was once the site of the first Catholic Church in Cleveland, St. Mary’s On-The-Flats. Over the years, many organizations and businesses inhabited the building. In 2015, it was likely the building was going to fall into neglect like much of the Industrial Flats had, until Treblicock and her husband Mike wanted to build a new nonprofit rowing facility that would be accessible to all youth of all income levels in Cleveland and attract and breed new national talent.
"We noticed that there was just youth all over the city and parents that really wanted to find out more about how they could get involved with the sport of rowing. And that's how the Foundry was really born," said Trebilcock.
The Foundry was featured on News 5 Cleveland's 100 Hidden Gem's list. Click here to view the whole list.
"I think could be considered a hidden gem of Cleveland simply because it brings our youth out for the purpose of learning and getting next to the water," she said.
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