John Glasson and his wife Janette have poured more than $10 million into the Red Shed. Photo: James Coleman.
When John Gasson attended Telopea Park School in the 1970s, rowing was part of the curriculum.
“I got a real kick out of rowing and continued to row after school with a few mates, and have been rowing ever since really,” he says.
But the same can’t be said for many of Canberra’s kids today. When a single scull costs between $15,000 and $20,000, it’s not hard to see why the public education system dropped rowing as a sport. The result, John says, is that only the few and the rich ever get into it.
“It’s a really expensive sport, and that’s why the private schools dominate all the events and the professional Australian rowing crews because they’ve had the opportunity.”
That’s about to change.
John is the founder of one of Canberra’s largest development companies, Construction Control, and he and his wife Janette have poured more than $10 million into the Red Shed – a large (you guessed it) red building perched on the shores of Black Mountain Peninsula.
Inside, you’ll find a sauna, ice bath, gleaming bathrooms with hot showers, a locker room, a gym, a café, an events space with a fully equipped commercial kitchen, but underpinning it all, a sprawling warehouse stocked with 50 rowing boats (and all the gear to use them).
The name is a nod to the previous location in Kingston Harbour. Photo: James Coleman.
It’s a grand design, and he might expect it to become a popular pit-stop for people walking or cycling by, and a venue for weddings, formals and corporate functions, but that’s all there to prop up the main aim – to introduce 1000 public school kids a year to rowing.
The original ‘Red Shed’, so nicknamed because of its iconic red doors, was simply that – a place for John and his fellow rowers to store their boats – and was located where the Kingston Foreshore is today.
They relocated to Black Mountain Peninsula in the early 1980s under the auspices of the Black Mountain Rowing Club.
“Over the last 10 years, I’ve had this passion to build a proper public-school rowing facility, to bring rowing back into public schools,” John explains.
“But when I say the goal is for the 1000 public school kids a year to come through rowing here, it’s any kid who hasn’t had the opportunity at their school, whether it be public or private, to row.”
Work on the new Red Shed started in October 2023 on a site further down the shore of the club’s old home – what’s colloquially become known as the ‘Black Shed’ on account of its colour.
This week, the first school students went through the five-day ‘Learn to Row’ program, starting on rowing machines before donning life vests and heading out onto the water. John says the reactions have been “fantastic”.
“Rowing is a great wellness activity. As an adult, you can row into your 80s because it’s low-impact. And it’s great for team building.
“We’ve created this facility down here, which is absolutely world-class, hoping the people who come through here are just a little bit more inspired to push themselves in their rowing.”
The Red Shed, located off John Cardiff Close, is open every day from 5 am to 9 pm and members of the public are encouraged to join as members and become known as ‘Red Shedders’. This gives them access to the facilities like the gym, spa, sauna, locker rooms and bathrooms.
The café will be open to walk-ins from 7 am to 2 pm, seven days a week, from Monday, 22 July.
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