The Boy Scouts may soon have a new headquarters and camp in OKC
The Last Frontier Council of the Boy Scouts of America is looking to relocate its headquarters to a park along the Oklahoma River where the organization also hopes to build an urban camp.
If built, the development at Elm Grove Park would establish yet another anchor along the Oklahoma River where destination venues have popped up on both shores of the waterway. The Elm Grove location surrounds a wetlands pond along the south shore at Pennsylvania Avenue. Trails connect the site to the University of Oklahoma boathouse and the Wheeler district.
Jeff Woolsey, executive director of the Last Frontier Council, is in talks with the city to sign a long-term lease for the park where it would build a 33,000-square-foot headquarters, lodge and campgrounds. He estimated the new location could be funded and opened within the next four years.
“We need a new purpose-built home where we can have young people come and do the Scouting program in a deeper fashion, centrally located and in a metropolitan area,” Woolsey said. “Our facility will attract thousands and thousands of young people and their families to come down to the Oklahoma River.”
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How the Boy Scouts plan to use the Elm Grove Park development
Woolsey said the pond would be used for canoeing, boating and fishing. The remainder of the park would be used for camping, archery and other outdoor activities.
“With this much area, we can do a lot,” Woolsey said. “This would also give us an urban campground for our additional packs and troops located in our 26-county area.”
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The Frontier Council is currently headquartered in an office building at 3031 NW 64 that was purchased 26 years ago when their old location at State Fair Park was requested as part of a deal to bring the American Quarter Horse Association headquarters to Oklahoma City.
That move, Woolsey said, was supposed to be “temporary.”
The office building hasn’t been able to host the outdoor events and ceremonies that were possible at the fairgrounds, he said, and the current location is far less visible.
What happens next?
Woolsey said fundraising can begin once the Elm Grove location is secured. He said the council awaited an end to the national organization’s bankruptcy and pandemic recovery before launching their effort to find a new home.
“Before COVID, we served over 13,000 youth members,” Woolsey said. “We're returning to that very quickly. We're sitting at 35% over last year as COVID ended.”
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Woolsey said he expects the camp will be attended by up to 200 kids a day through after-school partnerships with the Oklahoma City Public Schools district and the Boys and Girls Club.
“With those partnerships, we feel like we would be able to tackle transportation,” Woolsey said. “With partners like that, we can reach more young people. We think this reshapes our program. We are in a transition in wanting to impact many more young people and their families.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Elm Grove Park eyed as new home for Boy Scout headquarters and camp
