A £1.5MILLION new boat house in Gloucester moved a step closer after the project landed a huge windfall.
Gloucester Rowing Club has a grand vision to open the new centre on the towpath of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal near Hempsted.
This week it moved one step closer to realising its dream after landing a £250,000 grant to get the work started.
The boathouse will one day be a centre to train the future Olympians of Britain and would be open for the county's schools and colleges to enjoy.
The grant from the Gloucestershire Environmental Trust means work can start in September, after the club's annual regatta in August.
The award is funded by landfill tax contributions donated by Cory Environmental.
Jonathan Garner, chairman of the rowing club and a director of the boathouse project, said: "This is a major step towards allowing us to realise our vision to build a new hub for water sports in Gloucester.
"The project has been many years in the planning and we are now just realising that our dream will start to become a reality in the coming months."
The Gloucester Boathouse will be a new purpose built centre and will become a centre of excellence in rowing and canoeing within the region.
A landing stage has already been built and the project has the full support of the Canal and River Trust, British Rowing, Canoe England and Gloucester City Council.
The city council has pledged around £120,000 in in-kind support to the cause.
The project is also seeking financial support from Sport England and Gloucestershire firms.
The windfall comes just a month after Gloucester Rowing Club's current home, opposite the proposed site, was ransacked by a thief.
The burglar only got away with a small amount of petty cash, along with some chocolates and wine but caused some damaged to internal doors.
