File, a union carpenter and the corporate safety director with the LF Driscoll construction company, said the clubhouse is the lowest on Boathouse Row. When she was first serving as captain in 1999, the boat bays flooded five times. That led to discussion of engineering a floodgate for the building.

Two members of the club who are architects led the push for a comprehensive master plan. The club hired a structural engineer to develop an overall assessment of the building and a fundraising firm did a feasibility study of the potential to raise money within the club.

With the support of members and the board of directors, the club raised the $300,000 needed for the first phase of preserving the building, which involved the structural stabilization of the foundation. A two-foot-thick concrete mat slab was laid to stop the centuries of flooding and erosion that threaten all the buildings along Boathouse Row. That phase was completed at the Girls’ Rowing Club in February 2015.

The next phase will focus on preservation of the building’s masonry. All the original mortar between the local gneiss stones will be removed and replaced with appropriate mortar. “My father always used to say buildings are living, breathing things,” File explained. “Mortar contracts and expands. As rainwater goes in and goes out, the mortar shrinks.” The rock is not very hard so the mortar also needs to be soft, File added, noting repairs have sometimes broken the stone.

In addition to repointing the building, this phase will include cleaning the dark grime left from 19th century industrial smokestacks and 20th century urban traffic accumulated on the clubhouse façade.

PGRC also intends to replace the limestone plaque that once hung above the door but was removed by the Skating Club when it moved out, leaving a temporary fieldstone plaque in its place. A new stone plaque will cost upwards of $10,000, but “we’re looking at it as a naming opportunity,” File said.

The cost of the masonry preservation and cleaning is estimated at $200,000.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club will hold a party at Materials Conservation Co., the firm enlisted to do the rehab, hoping to raise funds to get the preservation project off to a healthy start.

WHYY’s Kimberly Paynter made this video profiling the Philadelphia Girls’ Rowing Club back in 2012, offering a look inside the clubhouse and what this club means for its members.