Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania to sell five camp properties

Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania is shuttering and selling five of its nine camp properties after determining not enough girls are using them and they cost too much to maintain.

“This was a very hard decision to make, but it's a tough business decision we need to make so that we can remain a viable organization,” Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania CEO Patricia Burkart told the Tribune-Review on Tuesday. “We're financially stable, but we want to make sure we stay that way.”

The camps have been taking in about $600,000 in annual revenue while racking up nearly $2 million in expenses, Burkart said in an alert announcing the closures emailed to members and posted online .

About 13 percent of the nonprofit's more than 22,000 members — or fewer than 3,000 — have been going to the camps. That's down from a 20 percent participation rate in 2009, Burkart said.

“Our girls are still participating widely in outdoor programming, but they're not coming to our camps; they're doing it locally (such as nature walks),” Burkart said.

Five properties will close March 31:

• Camp Elliott on 101 acres in Volant, Lawrence County;

• Camp Curry Creek on 63 acres in Brockway, Jefferson County;

• Camp Resting Waters on 410 acres — including a 13-acre, spring-fed lake — in Kane, McKean County;

• Camp Roy Weller on 792 acres — including two ponds and a nature sanctuary — in Preston County, W.Va.;

• Camp Singing Hills on 222 acres in Oil City, Venango County.

Jenny Muzy of Irwin said her 13-year-old daughter relished riding horses during summer camp at Roy Weller, and observing elk in the wild at Curry Creek. She raved to her mom about a winter session at Resting Waters during which she went sledding and ice skated at an arena lit by lanterns.

“She's heartbroken,” Muzy said of her daughter, who joined the Girl Scouts as a Daisy in kindergarten. “She actually asked if we could go and visit those camps before we can't go anymore.”

The closure plan followed a review of camp data by an advisory team composed of volunteers from each camp, the board's property committee members and council staff.

It's the local Girl Scouts group's second spate of camp closures in a decade.

In 2008, when five councils merged to form Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania, the organization owned 16 camps — “many of which had a lot of deferred maintenance,” Burkart said. By 2014, the organization had closed seven camps as part of a cost-savings plan.

Resident camp programs will continue to be offered at three camps: Conshatawba in Cambria County, Hawthorne Ridge in Erie County and Skymeadow in Armstrong County.

Camp Redwing along Connoquenessing Creek in Butler County also will remain open but no longer will offer resident camps. Instead, the Butler County site will be available year-round to use for a day camp, troop camping or weekend events.

A portion of proceeds from the property sales will be pumped into upgrades at remaining camps, Burkart said.

Improvements in the works include building a new barn at Skymeadow to take “full advantage of its miles of beautiful woodland trails,” Burkart said. Officials will aim to enhance activities rated highest in demand, including horseback riding, water sports and outdoor challenges.

“Our goal is to make it so girls clamor to get into the camps we have left and hopefully attract a higher usage of our facilities,” Burkart said.

Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania — a local affiliate of Girl Scouts of the United States of America — spans 27 counties across Western Pennsylvania.

The organization took in $10.1 million in revenue in 2014 and ended its 2014 fiscal year at more than $300,000 in the red, the latest Internal Revenue Service filings show. About 65 percent to 70 percent of its revenue comes from troops' signature cookie sales , Burkart said.

The board plans to host closing ceremonies for camp alumni in April and put the five properties on the market around June.

Officials declined to provide an estimated value of the properties, which collectively span more than 1,500 acres. Burkart said the group has just begun the appraisal process.

Natasha Lindstrom is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8514 or nlindstrom@tribweb.com.