CLEVELAND — It’s Earth Day 2022, and we’re exploring how Northeast Ohio is working to preserve the planet we all call home.
The Foundry in Cleveland is one of those places working to make a difference.
“Our mission is to transform the lives of Cleveland’s youth through access to the sports of rowing and sailing,” their site declares.
And it’s all with the environment in mind.
“When we’re out on the water, we don’t use any motor at all on our boats,” rowing coach Jalen Baldwin tells 3News.
“We use a lot of carbon fiber and that’s basically recycled plastic that’s confined into the boat. All of the power that’s being driven through the boat is through the students.”
The Foundry also features the largest indoor rowing tanks in the country.
“It’s very special because it’s only in Cleveland, so we have a lot of people from the Olympics that come to train here,” Baldwin continues.
“We have an advantage over different cities just because we have this on land. The Cleveland weather, we’re unable to always get out on our river, so it’s really nice that we can come inside.”
The Foundry is also in the process of crafting a two-story, 150-foot-long mural that depicts the serenity of what it’s like to be in a boat on the water.
“It’s part of a larger space-making initiative that we’ve got going on here,” says Program Manager Kelly McCarthy. “There’s going to be a boardwalk all along the river here behind The Foundry building.”
McCarthy says the project should be wrapping up in the next week or two.
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