Photo by drtana

Jack’s Boathouse, which has rented kayaks and canoes to Potomac paddlers since 1945, is getting tossed from its home in January. The National Park Service canceled the boathouse’s lease last week, just months after the Georgetown mainstay reported its most successful summer on record.

The Georgetowner reports the letter, from NPS Regional Director Stephen Whitesell, was issued December 18 and informed Jack’s Boathouse owner Paul Simkin to clear out by January 31:

The letter also reads: “As you are aware, the property upon which Jack’s Canoes & Kayaks, LLC, conducts business became a part of Rock Creek Park when the District of Columbia transferred jurisdiction over certain property along the Georgetown Waterfront to the National Park Service. This 1984 transfer included the October 1, 1973, month-to-month lease (as amended in 1982) for the property popularly known as Jack’s Boat House, located at 3500 K Street, N.W. . . . and said lease was assigned to the National Park Foundation.”

Simkin told The Georgetowner this news just about ruins Christmas for his 27 employees, all of whom will need to find new jobs lest the Park Service’s decision can be overturned. A Facebook page demanding just that was set up over the weekend, along with a petition on Change.org.

The National Park Service is scheduled to release the findings of a year-long study on the feasibility of redeveloping the Georgetown waterfront’s boathouse areas. Last year, as the process got underway, NPS officials voiced their concerns that some facilities on the D.C. side of the Potomac were in desperate need of repair and prone to flooding.