The Gulf Ridge Council Boy Scouts of America will leave its 40-year facility near International Plaza for a site in North Tampa that is five times bigger.
By EVE LEBERSON
Published April 4, 2004
NORTH TAMPA - It has been 40 years since the Gulf Ridge Council Boy Scouts of America first set up camp on 8 acres off Boy Scout Boulevard in West Tampa.
But come tomorrow, the Scouts' trading post and most administrative operations will move from the 1-mile stretch that carries their name to Central Avenue, south of Fletcher Avenue. All remaining office positions move to the new building in June, when the old one officially closes its doors.
At 6,000 square feet, the old West Tampa facility "was very small, and we had outgrown it years ago," said Les Baron, Scout director of the council that oversees 30,000-plus Scouts, volunteers and staff members in eight counties.
"It was just time that we moved on ... and grow into a larger facility that would grow with our Scouts," he said. "It will be another 40 years before we outgrow this (new) place."
It wasn't easy to move, given the organization's long history in West Tampa.
But the new building, for which the organization paid $1.39-million, is five times bigger.
County records assess the old property, for tax purposes, at $1.18-million. Baron would not say how much they hope to net from that sale because they still are in negotiations. But the appearance of International Plaza across the street has boosted values greatly in the area.
"When you looked at the long-term need of the Boy Scouts and what the (old) property could do for us financially, the best stewardship of the property was to sell it," he said. The organization plans to deposit surplus money from the sale into an endowment account. The interest it earns will benefit local Scouts.
The new building west of I-275 will house a 3,000-square-foot retail shop, office space and large meeting room absent from the Scouts' previous residence.
"It's like night and day," he said, comparing the two facilities. "It's so nice not to have boxes stacked in the corner."
