New Scout Camp near Houston

[prof]

I hope that it works out for the council and scouts near Houston.

I hope that they learn from whatever mistakes were made by CVC with Bayport.

 

It is good to see a new camp opening!

[Krampus]

Just saw the plans for a new camp near Houston.  The new Camp Strake is replacing the old Camp Strake that shut down this year.  I can't remember the last time I heard of a new camp being built.

 

Link to plans.

 

ROFLMAO at the "hills" in the background there.

 

It is flat, hot and near a swap.

[Stosh]

Stosh,

 

There's a reason I ordered them program, then facilities.

 

First rate also does not mean "new".  It means functional, safe, conforming with code, conforming with best practices.

 

If the reefer and the freezer at the commissary/dining hall are not maintaining temperature, there's a risk of food poisoning, and thus a risk of campers being ill.  That's not first rate.

 

If the filter on the pool is not working to standard, and the pool has to close for contaminated water, that's not first rate.

 

If the National Camp Visit decertifies the COPE tower for safety issues, that's not first rate...

 

Get my drift?

A well maintained facility and a brand new facility are both equally good in my book.  What I was trying to point out was one can have the greatest facilities (and excellently maintained facilities) and without quality program and staff it is a wasted expense and effort.

 

Heck the camp where my boys have been going asked for stoves the camp provided because they did in-site cooking.  The stoves were wood-burning Shepherd's Stoves from the 1940's-1950's era.  Worked just fine, all the parts were there and the boys had a blast. 

 

The facilities in general were not as eye-appealing as the new stuff at our council camp, but the staff and program was the real selling point for the boys.

[Ankylus]

ROFLMAO at the "hills" in the background there.

 

It is flat, hot and near a swap.

 

 

Well, for those of us in Houston, those are hills! 

[Ankylus]

Very true. Despite it being un-godly hot in Texas during the summer, Sid Richardson does a GREAT water program and they are ALWAYS booked early. Constantine does a so-so program (with shoddy facilities) and they struggle.

 

Our troop has camped for Summer Camp at both Sid Richardson and Constantine and we enjoy them both.

[Ankylus]

I am wondering what SHAC is doing with the camping program, actually. I am looking forward to the new Camp Strake, especially after they over-developed the old Camp Strake. But I am wondering...So, we have Camp Brosig, Camp Bovay, El Rancho Cima, and now Camp Strake. Now that the closed River Camp at Cima, where are they going to offload all that traffic? To Bovay? or to new Strake? I guess Brosig will take over Old Strake's role for training and such. Just curiuos.

[Ankylus]

I am wondering what SHAC is doing with the camping program, actually. I am looking forward to the new Camp Strake, especially after they over-developed the old Camp Strake. But I am wondering...So, we have Camp Brosig, Camp Bovay, El Rancho Cima, and now Camp Strake. Now that the closed River Camp at Cima, where are they going to offload all that traffic? To Bovay? or to new Strake? I guess Brosig will take over Old Strake's role for training and such. Just curiuos.

 

I heard this weekend from one of our leaders who spoke to a council rep at Roundtable that SHAC is selling not only the old Strake but also El Rancho Cima. It seems that they underestimated the cost of the new Strake and needed more money. So they are selling Cima to help pay for the new Strake. That's some seriously bad financial planning if they underestimated development costs for new Strake that badly. Not surprised, though.

[SpEdScouter]

I'd like to ask, these camps that are closing, are they near developed areas or other such areas where development and urban encroachment are partly to blame? Were developers tossing around offers of millions of dollars?

 

I know here around Kansas City several Girl Scout camps plus camps run by churches and other groups, have closed and I think its partly that they were smaller (maybe 40-160 acres) and were built not far from the cities and since then the cities have moved out to them and encompassed them so they quit being "in the country" and ended up selling and now their are houses on them. I read the Girl Scouts once had a camp on the east coast on some island which eventually the value of the land became worth so much they were pressured to sell.

 

The Boy Scout camps in our area like Bartle were built far from the cities so they have little fear of a developer wanting the property.

[Chisos]

El Rancho Cima is in the hill county west of San Marcos, and that area is booming with development.  But, it was heavily damaged in the floods in May 2015, so the additional rebuilding cost may have been part of the decision to sell.  Sad to see it go, it was my favorite camp as a kid.

[qwazse]

Being surrounded by urban development is no excuse. Camp Guyasuta is an outstanding camp surrounded by greater Pittsburgh neighborhoods and serves BSA and sometimes school groups.

 

Developers have to mitigate for wetlands loss. Camps and reservations can be part of a city's green solution.

[Ankylus]

El Rancho Cima is in the hill county west of San Marcos, and that area is booming with development.  But, it was heavily damaged in the floods in May 2015, so the additional rebuilding cost may have been part of the decision to sell.  Sad to see it go, it was my favorite camp as a kid.

 

Me too. They had already decided that they weren't going to rebuild River Camp after the floods. I have also heard rumors that they were afraid they weren't going to be able to get permits for the rebuild, but I think that's a bunch of hocum used to rationalize the decision. i am going to miss that camp. I already am.

[Ankylus]

Being surrounded by urban development is no excuse. Camp Guyasuta is an outstanding camp surrounded by greater Pittsburgh neighborhoods and serves BSA and sometimes school groups.

 

Developers have to mitigate for wetlands loss. Camps and reservations can be part of a city's green solution.

 

I don't think the development was a part of the decision for El Rancho Cima. I think that was purely a financial decision.

 

However, it was a factor with the old Strake. I don't think the urban surroundings were really a direct factor in the decision to close. There were three big factors. First, increasing development spawned increased regulation that made it more difficult to maintain and develop the camp. Second, as the area developed, property taxes rose quite a bit. So local governing authorities became more hostile about things like permits because they would rather have a large commercial development than a large camp because the commercial development would generate much higher tax revenues.

 

It's the way of the world.

[Col. Flagg]

El Rancho Cima is in the hill county west of San Marcos, and that area is booming with development.  But, it was heavily damaged in the floods in May 2015, so the additional rebuilding cost may have been part of the decision to sell.  Sad to see it go, it was my favorite camp as a kid.

 

Update on El Rancho Cima. Their council is decommissioning with seemingly no plans to have in-council camps in 2018. Looks like they will partner with the council serving Austin to get their troops to summer camp. Our unit went to the Cockrell River Camp here in 1997.