A New Day

Our council is taking a huge step forward in realizing our vision of delivering the best Girl Scout leadership experience. Throughout this journey, we have been guided by basic Girl Scouting principles: empowering, inspiring and influencing the girls who will make a difference in our world. To get us there, we developed a long-range program and property plan that would create the ideal environment to let our girls shine.

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This plan has reached a significant milestone with the announcement of a major initiative – the development of a Leadership Center.

The two important components of the initiative are:

• The purchase of a building in downtown Columbia
• The exploration of a partnership with an organization with green space that would augment the girls' experiences at the Leadership Center.

It is truly a new day for Girl Scouts of South Carolina - Mountains to Midlands. We are getting closer to creating preferred destinations at all our Girl Scout sites. These destinations will include superior indoor and outdoor experiences - things our girls said they want from Girl Scouting - and with the recent purchase of a building, the Leadership Center will be in the heart of our state’s capital.

While this initiative is in the early stages, we are pleased to share some details of the tremendous opportunities ahead for our Council.

A vision realized

Columbia Leadership Center

Our council first embraced the concept of a Leadership Center in 2009, based on best practices in Girl Scouting, and on what our membership said they wanted. An ad hoc committee, co- chaired by Donna Sorensen and Justin Strickland, was tasked with turning that vision into a reality.

The building purchased is the former South Carolina agriculture building located in downtown Columbia, 1101 Williams Street, at the corner of Senate Street. This property met eight of the nine criteria established by the committee. Some of its features are:

• 32,000 square feet of space
• Two-story building
• Located next to the Congaree River in a safe, city setting
• Ample, secure parking
• Walking distance to venues like the South Carolina State Museum and Edventure Children’s Museum

The building will require extensive renovations to meet our specific needs. The goal is to create a modern and high-energy environment with a particular focus on activities that surround the five areas of leadership development: Arts, Business Enterprise, Healthy Living, Outdoor Education and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

Preliminary amenity plans include:

• Member-centered design
• Room for a variety of group gatherings, sizes and programs
• Girls'-only lounge
• Overnight facilities such as dormitories or indoor cabins
• Indoor climbing wall
• A Girl Scout merchandise shop
• Office space to bring staff support closer to our girl and adult members
• A large meeting room for 300 people
• Rooms for training and development

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More green space, more adventure

We are exploring the outdoor component to the Leadership Center with other organizations in the area. It is a priority to provide unparalleled outdoor experiences for our girls and in close proximity to the new Leadership Center.

Update on other properties

Some of the properties addressed in the long-range program and property plan have been closed and are for sale, or they are in the process of being realigned through various partnerships or agreements.

• Camp Blue Cloud: It has recently been sold to one buyer for personal recreational use. A Farewell Ceremony will be held on August 28, 2011.
• Camp Cofitachiqui, Camp Congaree, Camp Drew and the McCormick Lot: They have been sold.
• Camp Mary Elizabeth: As with Columbia, a sub-committee will begin their work to identify partnerships for retention as outlined in the plan.
• Camp Ponderosa: It has not yet been placed on the market, pending the work of the Camp Mary Elizabeth sub-committee.
• Camp Star Fort: This property is currently on the market for sale.
• Greenville Office: We are in the process of renegotiating our lease which expires in June 2012.
• Mauldin Service Center: Although it had been announced on February 19, 2011, at the Spring Delegate Meeting, that we had a contract with a reputable, national private school, the purchaser was unable to complete the transaction and the contract has since been cancelled. The Mauldin site has been placed back on the market for sale.
• Spartanburg Service Center: This office was to be closed and council operations redirected to Camp Mary Elizabeth; however, we were given a free lease offer, so it will remain open into the foreseeable future.

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The journey continues

We began several years ago with a genuine interest in understanding how to attract more girls to Girl Scouting, given the world we live in today. We looked deep within our organization for ways we could elevate our programming to make it more meaningful to girls. The new Leadership Center initiative does just that.

While much remains to be done, our focus will continue to be on engaging our members in the process. For more information about the background details supporting our long-range program and property plan, please click here.