Mystic ―The Architectural Design Review Board voted unanimously Thursday to approve new plans for the Mystic River Boathouse Park project.

The approval signals the start of work may finally be in sight after years of delays due to the need for environmental cleanup, a requirement to preserve a historic home on the property and controversy over the initial industrial-like boathouse design.

“We really want to get going; the town really wants to get going on the park. I know people have been waiting for this for a long time, and there’s been a lot of anticipation of it, and we’re super excited about finally getting shovels in the ground and getting going on the project,” said Mike O’Neil, president of Stonington Community Rowing Inc.

First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough added Friday, “This is a really big step, and we know there have been people working on this since 2016, and they’ve stuck with it this whole time.”

The town, in conjunction with SCRI, will create a public riverfront park on the 1.5-acre Greenmanville Avenue site just north of Mystic Seaport that will include a boathouse for the Stonington High School rowing team and a community rowing center.

Residents approved $2.2 million in bonding in 2016 to purchase the land and create the park, and SCRI will pay to construct the rowing center, before turning it over to the town at the cost of $1.

O’Neil said his group currently has $1.5 million donated and pledged toward the estimated $2.5 million necessary to relocate and restore the historic home known as the Lovelace House on the property and build the Jim Dietz Rowing Center, including the Hart Perry Boathouse.

“We have to work with the town. We have to work together, but our hope is to get started this fall,” O’Neil said.

“I think construction will run through the duration of next year, and our hope, if everything goes to plan, we could potentially be done by the fall, or, worst case, spring of the following year,” he added.

Park plans, by Kent + Frost Landscape Architecture and Design of Mystic, calls for creating a “living coastline” at the water’s edge. The coastline will feature natural marsh enhancement, specialized concrete that attracts oysters to attach to it and a fringe of native grasses. He also noted that the park will include historical signage, benches, decorative landscaping, and a pollinator habitat.

Rowing center plans, by Phase Zero Design of Simsbury, call for a two-story building, topped with a square, copper roofed, windowed cupola, designed to resemble a historic barn. The first floor would serve as boat and equipment storage space. The second floor would primarily be a training space complete with rowing machines and a weight training area but could also function as a small event space.

A vestibule, which will house trophies, will connect the boathouse to the Lovelace House. The historic home will be moved north on the property and the exterior of the home will be preserved. The state Historic Preservation Office has allowed interior renovations, which will include coaching offices, storage, bathrooms, and a lounge area for the high school crew team.

“It’s a really big step for people who have been waiting for so long,” said Chesebrough.

She said she anticipates a two- to three-month process to get through local permitting requirements including gaining approval from the Bureau of Police Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission, followed by the state permitting process for the living shoreline work and dock installation.

Once the permitting process is complete, she said the town will put the project out to bid and look at how the estimated costs stack up against bid costs.

“After that we’ll see. Can we actually move on the bid in the fall and actually start the work?” she said, adding that she has been working with town Economic and Community Development Director Susan Cullen on two grant applications to offset costs associated with the living shoreline.

“We need to be sure we have enough funding to move forward, but we’re actively pursuing every angle that we can to be sure we have all the funding,” she said.