Girl Scouts Working On Building A New Camp Ground

The Girl Scouts will be breaking ground on a new camp very soon.   

The scouts had to sell their old Camp Cookieland to make room for the new turnpike.

Since the camp was sold to the Turnpike Authority two years ago, the girl scouts have been holding their summer camp programing next to their offices near 63^rd and Robinson. But at the beginning of next year, they will be breaking ground on a new camp with a new focus.

The new camp will be located just east of the Oklahoma City Zoo. It's a wooded area on the banks of a lake but a much more urban location than Camp Cookieland. You'll be able to see a view of the zoo and science museum, reflecting a more modern approach to Girl Scouting.

“The pool is being built in a way for us to do underwater robotics,” explained CEO Shanon Evers as she pointed to renderings of the camp facilities. 

From the climbing wall, to the treehouses, to the zip line across the lake, every part of the camp is designed to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM.

“Getting the youngest of girls comfortable and inspired with the basic concepts of science and math and exposed to basic technologies is incredibly important to making sure they have the leadership skills they need in the future,” said Evers.

The council has committed to putting 2.5 million girls into the STEM workforce pipeline by 2025. 

The new camp will still have places for primitive camping, along with indoor sleeping quarters and a patio with hammocks. And when the girl scouts aren't using it, the camp will be available to other groups with the rental fees used to help fund the programming.

To pay for it all, the council is in the middle of a capital campaign.  They need $12.2 million. So far they've raised the $9.4 million though mostly big donations from corporations like Google and Boeing and of course lots of cookies.

“We actually had a Girl Scout troop donate $10,000 to the campaign from their cookie sales last year,” said Evers.

But Evers says that last little bit is the hardest to raise. If you would like to help click here.  

After groundbreaking in February and March the camp should take about 18 months to build.