January 1st, 2005

Scouts pay off debt
Sale of portion of Camp Cuyuna to DNR goes through
By Dylan Thomas
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO - Having finally put its debt behind it, the Twin Valley Council Boy Scouts expect program improvements to draw more boys to their organization.

Council Executive Director Paul Wilkinson said the organization's deal to sell a portion of Crosslake-area Camp Cuyuna to the Department of Natural Resources for more than $1.5 million was completed this week.

"We got the check today and the first thing we did was retire the debt," Wilkinson said Thursday.

Wilkinson cut a check for about $774,000, eliminating the debt that had burdened the organization since the construction of its Center for Scouting on Madison Avenue about three years ago. Just paying the interest on the debt drained nearly $40,000 from Scout coffers every year.

Another sign the council's fortunes may have finally turned around was the recent sale of a Scout-owned property on Summit Avenue for about $170,000. The site of a former drive-in theater and water park was donated to the scouts.

"It surprised us, to be honest," Wilkinson said, noting the property had been on the market for three years. He would not identify the buyers, except to say they were "local businesspeople."

Now that Scouts are on "good, solid ground," he said, it's time for the council to focus again on improving programming.

Wilkinson said $650,000 has been allocated for repairs and improvements at the council's three camps: Norseland, near New Sweden Township, and Cedar Point, just south of Fairmont, in addition to Cuyuna.

Wilkinson said nearly $500,000 of that will be spent on the most pressing infrastructure needs. The Boy Scouts' National Engineering Service will send a team to the area in January to advise the council on construction projects, he said.

Wilkinson said the council's board of directors hired him in 2002 because of his skills with programming: making Scouting fun, exciting and educational. Now, without a $1 million gray cloud hanging over his head, he finally has a chance to show them what he can do.

Last Updated: January 8, 2005