25 September 2008
New, Yes, New BSA Camp
Posted by admin under: camps .
With all these stories of camps closing it’s exciting to hear about a new camp which is also a new type of camp that will be opening in Minnesota. The Boy Scouts of America Northern Star Council is buying a 100 year old property from the city and plans to create an urban base camp. That’s appropriate since they plan to open it on the 100th birthday of Boy Scouts in America.
The 220-foot-long, red brick Drill Hall, also called the Hippodrome and the “201 Building,” is a familiar sight to those driving to the airport on Hwy. 55. It was built in 1907 to train horses to pull artillery and troops to practice cavalry dressage. Over the years, it went through other uses, including a materials testing facility for the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
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The Boy Scouts’ vision for the Drill Hall includes a multipurpose space that will accommodate climbing walls, an indoor ropes course and room for all sorts of other activities. It will be open to all groups that want to use it, he said.
“We’ll operate it as a public facility,” Andrews said.
He said he doesn’t expect kids will camp on the site, but the trails and woods of Fort Snelling State Park are a short hike away. The council also plans to build a new building on the site that will house its offices and a scout shop, he said.
Thanks to James Shiffer at the StarTribune.com for giving us hope. When I heard my council was selling the high desert camp at which we had attended Camporee I was shocked. Now I know that these camps are very expensive to operate, but in my mind still comprise the fundamental reason why kids get involved with Boy Scouts in the first place. They’ll be enjoying more of it in Minnesota and will be extending the opportunity to non Scouts, as well.
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One Comment so far...
» Trading in Your Dad’s Old Camp Says:
2 October 2008 at 4:21 pm.
[...] I was excited the other day when I heard that the BSA was going to create a new urban camp in Minnesota I was excited because it seemed to flow in the reverse direction of all the camp closures I’d been hearing about. Now we learn from Tammy Sakry at the Coon Rapids Herald that it was a little bit smoke and mirrors. [...]
