Revealed: vision to transform Henley’s former River and Rowing Museum

A WOMAN has told of her vision to turn the former River and Rowing Museum in Henley into a hospitality and leisure venue.

Emma Linaker, who lives in Henley, wants to launch River House Henley, which will offer fitness facilities, including a gym and swimming pool, as well as a café, restaurant and library.

Mrs Linaker is one of several individuals and groups who have expressed an interest in purchasing the old building in Mill Meadows following its closure in September last year. It is currently on the market for £3m with American commercial real estate services company CBRE. The bidding process is due to be completed at the end of the month.

Mrs Linaker has been working on her project full-time since September and is the founder and chief executive of River House Henley. She said that the idea came to her having had her daughter two years ago and felt, as a new mother, that family-friendly spaces in the town were “lacking”.

Ms Linaker said: “It feels like that market is really polarised. We’ve got some super exclusive high-end clubs and gym facilities but families are not necessarily welcome there.”

As part of the venture she hopes to introduce an in-house education programme providing qualifications in fitness, childcare and hospitality.

The proposed gym at the venue. Credit: River House

Ms Linaker said: “We were nervous to share our plans but we concluded that it was worth taking the risk. We really needed to gauge from the Henley population whether they were interested.”

To try and generate support for her bid, she launched an online social media campaign, #henleysaysyes.

Ms Linaker said that public reception has been “overwhelmingly positive” with supporters posting comments on Instagram posts, sending direct messages and reaching out over email.

Henley Town Council, which owns the site the museum sits on, said that it was only aware of three proposals that have been made, so far.

As the Henley Standard reported last week, Fleur Martin, 33, of The Museum Henley, is also working to gain public support to turn the building into a community hub, called “Community. Creativity. Opportunity”.

Mrs Martin said: “In the last couple of weeks since we’ve gone a bit more public and, on our socials, we’ve received some amazing outreach and support from residents, as well as people who are looking to get involved, which is really encouraging.

“We have had people that have got in touch to collaborate and have had those discussions about potentially moving a business they own that is already established into the space in some capacity.

“It has been really good and it has given us some confidence that people are interested in this kind of space and there is still a love for the building as it has always been.”

Mrs Martin said that she is currently working alone on the campaign but due to community outreach, things might change soon.

She added: “I’m hoping that a few of the people I’m meeting and talking to who have volunteered and offered their time and help, I might be able to offload some of the social media areas to them so that we can get momentum going even more.”

Kevin Sandhu, interim director for the River and Rowing Museum, said: “The marketing has been successful and we have received lots of enquiries. However, it’s likely that many of these won’t translate into actual bids.

“The museum has not endorsed any proposal, public or otherwise. We have accommodated visits and requests from any interested party and will continue to do so.

“If there are any parties that are interested in making a bid, we encourage them to get in touch with both CBRE and ourselves and we will do our best to assist them.”

A spokeswoman for the town council said: “We are mindful of our role as a landowner and are giving consideration to a potential future use that reflects long-term community benefits.

“The River and Rowing Museum Foundation owns the building and have about 60 years remaining on their lease. The town council own the land and, while the foundation can sell the building to whomever they like, the town council need to agree to any assignment or extension of the lease.

“The foundation are leading on the marketing of the building, but reviewing the offers will be done jointly between the foundation and the council.”