Boathouse Once Again Considered for Georgetown Waterfront

Georgetown University's hopes for a boathouse on the Potomac River are once again alive as the National Park Service announces a new feasibility study for a non-motorized boathouse zone along a stretch of the Georgetown Waterfront. The study will examine an area from 34th Street to about 1,200 feet upstream of the Key Bridge.

NPS first proposed a non-motorized boat zone for the area in 1986. Since that time several iterations and stages of the plan have advanced only to later stall; the NPS details the history of the project in the PDF that accompanies this article.

Georgetown has designed a boathouse for the area and even went through the Environmental Assessment process for a proposed land exchange
between NPS and Georgetown University.

"A site was identified for a Georgetown boathouse over 25 years ago, and we have invested significant resources in designs and approval processes in that regard," wrote Stacy Kerr, a spokesperson for the university, in an email to Patch.

But Tammy Stidham from NPS was firm that there is no plan at this point for how to use the space, if the non-motorized boat zone is ultimately implemented.

"This is an information collecting venue where we’re really just looking at the feasibility for ... a very narrow swath of land," she explained.

The agency has scheduled an open house with a brief presentation for Tuesday, Dec. 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Washington Harbour (3050 K Street, NW, Suite 200). 

After the holidays, NPS will then engage in meetings with key stakeholders such as the university, Advisory Neighborhood Commission and environmental groups.

A coalition of some 26 organizations, including the Sierra Club, have banded together to form the Defenders of Potomac River Parkland, which voices strong opposition to private development along the wooded area that they says serves as "the gateway to the C&O Canal National Historic Park."

In an email to supporters, the Sierra Club notified members of the meeting and urged them to attend:

"The land exchange issue is of particular concern because two private universities - Georgetown University and George Washington University - want to secure land on the waterfront for two separate boathouses for their rowing programs," stated the email.

Though Stidham says that NPS aims to engage all stakeholders, Georgetown's intentions are clear.

"We remain committed to constructing a boathouse along the Potomac that will meet the needs of our men's and women's crew programs and that is a positive addition to the waterfront," wrote Kerr.

The NPS also plans to hold at least one weekend workshop for community members to offer feedback and talk about their preferred uses for the waterfront area.

NPS would hold additional public meetings before releasing the results of the feasibility study in the fall of 2012.

"It's going to be a very public processs," said Stidham.