CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The new headquarters for the Buckskin Council of the Boy Scouts of America is ready to open its doors in Charleston next week.
The staff will move in Monday. The facility will be open for business Wednesday.
“They’ve been working fast and furiously to finish the construction of the building,” said Jeff Purdy, scout executive for the Buckskin Council, about work on the 13,000 square foot facility that began in September.
The new building, called the H. Bernard Wehrle, Sr. Scout Leadership Service Center, is located on the Kanawha Boulevard next to the Craik Patton House. It is replacing the Wyatt Scout Service Center.
The facility will include new office spaces, an activity area, improved program spaces, a Scout shop and museum displays. It will be able to host large meetings, conferences, volunteer training, program coordination and overnight trips.
Historical-type programs will also be offered at the Craik Patton House as well as some STEM programs at the Clay Center, Purdy said.
“The other things that are neat are just the location and the view off the river and we know that this new facility looks gorgeous,” Purdy said. “We know that people visiting West Virginia and traveling down the summit will be very impressed.”
“The image of scouting in West Virginia will be very well-represented with that facility,” he added.
Membership has been up in the last year, Purdy said, and they’re hoping the new building will help with that.
“Our membership is tracking a little bit ahead of last year,” he said. “We’re working hard to keep our current membership gains in place.”
The Buckskin Council has expanded three times since 1979 and now includes 32 counties in four states — 22 in West Virginia, four in Kentucky and three in both Virginia and Ohio.