The Kootenay Rhythm Dragons are in need of a new den.
The club made a presentation to city council Monday that included a land request to build moorage, docking and a clubhouse at the mouth of Cottonwood Creek.
Mary Walters, the club's financial and community liaison, told the Star that the Dragons' current home on private property is no longer viable.
"It became apparent if we want to grow and expand, and we get requests almost month for a mixed team, a men's team, a senior's team, and out of respect for the property owner and neighbours we cannot expect people to be trucking through her property to add more teams," she said.
The club's plans also include a parking lot, a safety boat, and the addition of two to three more dragon boats, which they hope to use to organize an annual festival.
The city has already said it wants to develop that site into a park, although its previous use as a landfill has complicated planning because it's unclear how much the land has been remediated.
But Walters said there's still plenty of time for the permanent structure to be built — they are aiming for everything to be constructed by 2023 — and that their pitch was written to work within city planning.
"Dragon boating is a green sport so it would fit right in with their recreational plan and with their development of the waterfront plan as well," she said.
The club's presentation did not include a financial request. Walters said while the club's land acquisition committee doesn't yet have an estimate for the project's cost, they have started a capital fund and plan to seek grants and donations.
As it is, the club will need a temporary site to keep its boat in for 2018.
Walters said the owner of the team's current home is in poor health, and that it's not appropriate for members to be on her property five days a week. Their current dragon boat is 47 feet long and weighs 800 pounds, which means stowing it in the Nelson Rowing Club's packed boathouse at Lakeside Park is also out of the question.
"She's been wonderful to let us [use] her property every day from usually the end of April to the end of September," said Walters. "We really need to do this."
The Dragons were established in 2004 to raise breast cancer awareness as well as improve the health and well being of its members through dragon boating. They were originally granted money from the city and the Regional District of Central Kootenay as part of their fundraising efforts to buy a boat.
The team, which also organizes the annual Terry Fox Run, has grown from 20 paddlers to 84. Walters said a permanent facility will only help the sport grow and give back to the community.
"It's an exciting sport," she said. "It's healthy, and with our team it's not only physically healthy, it's socially and emotionally healthy because we've all kind of become a big family and take care of each other. It's something we would like to make readily available to other people in the community."