Frank Childress Scout Reservation purchased by not-for-profit group

Oct. 4—The Frank Childress Scout Reservation is now Camp Childress, and it will begin serving multiple youth and community organizations.

The Ozark Trails Council announced Wednesday that it has sold the Scout reservation south of Joplin to the Frank Childress Reserve Properties Committee, a newly formed not-for-profit organization.

In a statement, Ozark Trails Council leadership said it "recognized that owning and operating four camp properties was no longer financially feasible and made the decision to sell."

A group of Scout volunteers organized a not-for-profit that purchased the camp and will operate it as Camp Childress.

The camp holds 175 wooded acres and includes a pool, climate-controlled dining hall, a commercial kitchen, cabins, hiking trails, campsites and a trout fishing pond. Camp Childress is located just east of the interchange of Route V and Interstate 49 in Newton County.

The Ozark Trails Council will continue to operate three other camps: one near Pittsburg, Kansas; one on Table Rock Lake; and its main summer camp operation near Marshfield, Missouri.

John Feick, Scout executive and CEO of the Ozark Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America, said in a statement: "The business model for the newly formed not-for-Profit is to provide an affordable camping facility for multiple community groups: Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups, sports camps, etc. In many rural areas, like Southwestern Missouri, it is a real challenge to own and operate a youth camp with a single user. Many organizations have made the decision to sell camp properties, which has eliminated camping opportunities for all youth. The great thing about the Frank Childress Reserve group's business plan is that they are reaching out to numerous organizations and will likely be able to fill the camp with multiple users."

The sale was completed Oct. 4.

In 2020, the Boy Scouts of America settled a number of damaging lawsuits by former Scouts who reported they had been sexually abused by Scout leaders in decades past. The organization was forced to declare bankruptcy and sell a number of camps as part of the settlement agreement. The Childress Scout Reservation was one of those camps initially put on the auction block, but the Ozark Trails Council rejected a previous offer to sell it.

Eric DeGruson, chairman of the new Frank Childress Reserve Properties Committee, and others formed the group and was able to come up with the $500,000 needed to buy it.

The committee is working to raise another $600,000 or more to build an air-conditioned bunkhouse and make a number of other needed improvements to the site.

"We have plans for the property that will make it more accessible and desirable for many types of youth development, church, nonprofit, business and other private organizations that want to use the outdoor spaces as well as conference and meetings spaces," DeGruson told the Globe recently. "Outside groups have begun to partner with us, and we look forward to more joining us in this endeavor to make the camp an integral part of the community."

For more information on Camp Childress, go to www.campchildress.com.