Discussions on the formation of a Boat House Company were held in order to avoid selling the property and boathouse (purchase offers were made by external parties). There is no record of the club from 1871 to 1874, until 25 June 1875 where the club would have been re-introduced with approximately 100 members. In 1884 and 1885, the club house suffered damages when it sank. Members of the club, led by P. D. Ross, discussed building a permanent foundation for the boathouse in 1887. In 1891, Ross, an executive committee member of the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen, declined hosting the association's regatta due to the bad course on the Ottawa river and unsatisfactory financial condition of the Ottawa Rowing Club. History from 1896 In spring 1896, the club purchase a riverfront property below John A. Macdonald's home Earnscliffe. The boathouse would be left at its current, permanent location. For six consecutive years, from 1905 to 1911, members of the club were the North American champions. The two world wars were difficult years for the club, with fourteen members losing their lives while serving during World War I, and with the boathouse showing signs of deterioration due to neglect. During the Depression years, P.D. Ross, former editor of the defunct Ottawa Journal, was president of the club. He infuriated his reporters by paying them small salaries while openly spending into equipment and upkeep for the rowing club. The 1950s and 1960s was a period of decline for the Ottawa Rowing Club. After seizing the club due to financial constraints, in 1967 the City of Ottawa agreed to restore the part of the old boathouse which still exists today, but decided to demolish the other half of the building due to its poor condition. The demolished portion of the building stored boats and included a ballroom. In that year, the club only had nine members, and the permanent closure of the club was being debated. Volunteers, such as Peter King, supported the development of rowing in Ottawa in the 1970s. The rowing boom resulted in two new clubs (that do not exist anymore): the Nepean Rowing Club and the Ottawa Carleton Rowing School. With close to 1,000 members, the Ottawa Rowing Club is today one of the largest clubs in Canada. University rowing In 1949, when the University of Ottawa created the Physical Education Program, the Ottawa Rowing Club offered equipment