Lago at Dows Lake

Then & Now

In 1931, the boathouse on the left was built on Dows Lake. It was a two storey building, with accommodation for about 200 skiffs and canoes, 10 to 20 outboard motor boats, and 7 small cruisers in covered slips.  It was used for almost 50 years and over time it housed private power boats, skiffs, and canoes as well as various clubs.  A troop of Sea Scouts used it as a base and for a short period in the 1930s the Brantwood Canoe Club used it for regattas. From 1947 to 1979 the RA Yacht Club sailed from its docks and in the 1960s the YM-YWCA Canoe Club stored its boats in the boathouse. By the 1970s the building was in poor condition and in 1979 it was torn down to make way for the Dow’s Lake Pavilion.  If you remember changing your skates at Dows Lake in a room with a cement floor then you are thinking of the space where Lago is now!