By Jessica Farrish
It’s a deal that was made in heaven.
Gov. Joe Manchin was searching for new businesses to enter the state. The Boy Scouts of America organization was searching for site for a fourth high-adventure base.
The National Park Service, populated heavily with Eagle Scouts, was facing its 100-year mark and challenging itself to find new relevance.
The result was the proposed National Scouting Center, a $100 million facility that will be built near Glen Jean and draw 25,000 Boy Scouts and their families to Fayette County each year.
“The New River Gorge in this part of the country is a marriage made in heaven for the Scouts,” said Isaac Manning of Trinity Works, the developer of the BSA project.
If all goes according to plan, the site will open in 2012, BSA officials said.
NPS officials said the National Scouting Center will be an economic benefit to surrounding communities and will assist in conservation, tourism and job creation.
Through an open bid process, BSA will use qualified local contractors to build the high-adventure base, according to BSA officials.
The base will include sewer and water facilities.
The National Scouting Center is expected to employ 80 full-time staff and 1,200 seasonal staff.
It will serve as a high-adventure base for BSA and offer whitewater rafting, mountain biking, rock climbing, caving, camping, backpacking and other outdoor activities to Boys Scouts ages 13 to 18, BSA spokesman Dave LaValle said.
LaValle estimated an additional $10 million could be added to the annual economy by the National Scouting Center.
There are currently three BSA high-adventure bases, located in New Mexico, Florida and Minnesota.
The National Park Service has partnered with BSA since 1971.
Although BSA officials have not issued a final decision, both NPS and BSA representatives said Wednesday they expect the proposed National Scouting Center to host the National Jamboree in the future.
The event is often attended by up to 300,000 Scouts and their families.
Mount Hope Mayor Michael Martin said he anticipates a boost to the local economy.
“I believe this has the potential to aid Mount Hope in revitalizing our downtown, revitalizing our entire community,” he said. “It’s our opportunity to take advantage of it.”
-----
Currently owned by Meadow Creek Coal Co., the 11,000-acre property proposed for the National Scouting Center is known as Garden Grounds.
It is located on the west side of the New River and bordered by the communities of McCreery, Thurmond/Stone Cliff and Mount Hope. Thirteen miles of the property border NPS land.
Jack Furst, chairman of the National Scouting Center project and member of the BSA national board, reported that BSA has definite plans to purchase Garden Ground in the immediate future through the BSA non-profit entity Arrow WV.
“We’re only limited by our creativity,” he said. “We can grow with this property over the next 20 years.
“Conservation projects will be numerous here through the get-go. Every time one of our scouters does a high-adventure event ... part of their experience is a conservation project.
“Conservation has been a part of our program for the last 100 years and will continue to be a part of it for the next 100 years.”
LaValle, Furst, NPS Superintendent/New River Gorge National River Manager Don Striker, Boy Scouts Council President Art King and other BSA and NPS officials toured the site with local media Wednesday.
The camp base is expected to be built at a parcel of land known as “the bowl.”
“Boy Scouts would check in, spend a day or two at base camp, then begin their high-adventure trek,” Furst said.
He added that mostly tent camping will be done during the early years of the center.
Garden Ground features a lily-laden pond with beaver dams along one side, a plethora of wild blackberry bushes and a 2,800-feet elevation point known as “the mountain” that offers sweeping views of the surrounding area.
“Imagine you’re 14 years old and seeing this for the first time,” Furst offered.
Around 25,000 young men and women will be using the property throughout the year, he added.
Accessibility was a factor in choosing Garden Ground from among 80 proposed sites nationwide, officials said.
Fayette County is easily accessible by Amtrak, air and interstate highways.
New River Gorge National River officers also helped the move.
“The governor’s office asked if NPS would help,” Striker said. “Then we got selfish and said, ‘Golly, I think this makes sense here next to us.’”
— E-mail: jfarrish@register-herald.com
