The Rectory Cafe is under water and won’t be permanently resuscitated.

The famous Ward’s Island gem may not be literally flooded out since the rising water on Ward’s Island reaches all around the actual restaurant, but not inside.

But the impact is the same.

The flooding everywhere else on the islands has created such a mess that a decision was made to close at the end of this season.

“This has killed us,” said co-owner Ken McAuliffe of the rain and flooding that has the entire island shut down to the public. “We have hit a tipping point. The rain has been so bad that we have to close.”

So the Toronto Islands’ flood has drowned its first business victim.

“You can’t stay afloat as a restaurant if your customers can’t get to you,” said McAuliffe, one of three owners of the landmark location.

They tried.

“We had an agreement with the city that as long as we were able to stay open and it was safe for people to get from the ferry dock to us, they would make an exception for people saying they were coming to the Rectory Cafe,” said McAuliffe. “But with communication the way it is sometimes, there were times they would not sell people the tickets and they were not allowed to come over.”

Usually this time of year, the Rectory’s famous patio facing the Leslie Spit is jammed with a lineup of people waiting to get in for the view and the amazing home-cooked food. During my visit with Sun photographer Craig Robertson on Sunday, we saw just two couples dining in.

Ghost town.

Randy Mulrooney of Life’s a Beach, who rents chairs and umbrellas at Hanlon’s Beach, says he’s hopeful the city can make up for millions in lost revenue at Centreville, or from ferries filled with customers who regularly head to the island for picnics, weddings and events, weather permitting, by considering extending the weekend ferry service into October.

The Rectory building is leased from the Toronto Islands Residential Community Trust and with utilities and rent it amounts to $80,000 a year, which is a lot when you consider they have to earn their keep in a short seasonal window.

“Money we earn now would be used to pay to operate over the winter,” McAuliffe explained.

The Rectory’s been in for a lot of bad luck lately. First came the flooding, then came the closing of the park. The restaurant’s insurance company said, unless water didn’t actually get into the building, they were out luck and we won’t even talk about the upcoming concern about the mosquito boom.

“It’s a perfect storm,” McAuliffe said. “It’s like we had a meteor hit.”

The day last day was actually going to be Wednesday.

“But we had a wedding booked for June and we honour our commitments,” he said.

Co-owned by Sarah Willinsky and Mark Chadburn-Samuel, they came up with a plan to subsidize in order to save their 57 employees’ jobs and keep the business open until Thanksgiving.

“But with our lease up in December we are not in a position to extend it five more years,” McAuliffe said. “We are done.”

Only some prayers, some good weather, finding a partner with deep pockets or winning a jackpot could offer a life raft for the Rectory.

“I am buying my lottery tickets,” McAuliffe said with a laugh.

For now, sadly, the Rectory Cafe on flooded Ward’s Island is going down and not coming back up.