Congressman James Moran D-Va. speaking to a crowd of 600 supporters of Belle Haven marina announced Monday night that he has reached a agreement with Audrey Calhoun Superintendent of the National Park Service George Washington Parkway, to keep the marina temporarily open past the NPS scheduled closing date of Dec. 31, 2001.
Belle Haven marina, a popular Potomac River marina that has served boaters for 50 years had been planned to be closed by the end of this year. The marina is located 1 mile south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the George Washington Parkway. The National Park Service owns the property and the marina is operated under contract to the NPS by concessionaire George Stevens. Deterioration of the marina and lack of funds to improve it were concerns cited by the NPS for the closing. The marina is popular with powerboaters, sailors, kayakers, fishermen and the thousands of people that stroll through every year. The NPS had conducted a study of improvements needed to keep the marina open and determined that 1.5 million dollars in repairs were needed. The cost is such that a operator of the marina would not be able to recover the costs of improvements as the marina is limited to 65 wet boat slips to protect the nearby Dyke Marsh.
At the Monday night meeting the "Friends of Belle Haven" a non-profit grass roots group presented a plan designed by Belle Haven sailor and local architect Janice Olshesky to provide the needed improvements at half the cost. The plan provides for wet slips, a new boat ramp, a sailing school and a roof top boat launch area.
Public Comments on the marina closing are being accepted by the National Park Service until June 4th 2001. A formal decision on the fate of the marina should be made by the NPS by fall 2001.
Comments can be emailed to the NPS comment site at: http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/belle_haven/comment.htm. A lag time is reported on sending comments through this site.
The Friends of Belle Haven Marina can be contacted thru their web site at: http://www.saildc.com/friends/.
Pictures of the marina can be seen at The Chesapeake Explorer: http://trotliner.tripod.com/bellehaven.html
Posted: 5-24-2001
