D.C. Council Member Jack Evans Thursday threatened to pursue a city takeover of a Georgetown Boys and Girls Club by eminent domain if its parent organization chooses to cash in its valuable real estate.

Evans’ comments came about two weeks after the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Washington announced that it would close its Eastern Branch in Southeast in August. The regional organization also said it is exploring options for its 50-year-old Georgetown club, known as the Jelleff Branch, because the neighborhood does not need its services, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Dowdell said. It is located on S Street in Northwest, near Dumbarton Oaks.

“Our fiduciary responsibility as an organization is to use our limited resources in a way to serve those children who need it most,” Dowdell said Thursday.

Dowdell said the organization will seek proposals for the club, which Evans estimated is worth about $20 million according to city records. Nothing has been finalized and there is not a timeframe for putting the requests out, Dowdell said.

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The club has more than 6,000 members, Evans said. City Collegiate Public Charter School also operates out of the space, with a lease set to expire after the next school year.

“It’s only worth a lot of money if you demolish everything that’s there and build houses on it,” Evans said.

Evans, D-Ward 2, said he would seek to condemn the club and have the city take it under eminent domain if it chooses to sell to developers and fails to include some sort of comparable community organization.

Jelleff features roller skating, an outdoor pool, basketball courts and soccer fields.

“At the end of the day, we want to keep it as a recreational facility,” Evans said. “If that’s the direction we have to take, we can take it.”

More than 900 people had signed an online petition seeking to save the club by Thursday afternoon, hours before community members were scheduled to meet on its future.

Jelleff Board of Director President Denis James disputed Dowdell’s claim that the club serviced a community that is not in need.

“We serve kids from all over the city,” James said. “It’s been like that for many, many years.”

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com