RICHMOND - The Boy Scouts of America is hoping it has found a permanent home in southwestern Virginia for its national Jamboree.
The Irving, Texas-based organization will mark its 100th anniversary with the 2010 Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline - the site used since 1981 - and then plans to move to Goshen in Rockbridge County in 2013 for the gathering.
The event that brings thousands of Boy Scouts from around the country is held every four years, but the next one is being pushed back a year to 2010 to coincide with the centennial.
The National Scout Jamboree has traditionally drawn about 42,000 Scouts, volunteers and workers to the Fredericksburg area.
An additional 2,200 military personnel are on hand in support roles, and 270,000 visitors descend on the site once the jamboree opens to the public.
All that activity pumps an estimated $17 million to $25 million into the local economy--$7.4 million for hotel and restaurant sales alone, according to figures from the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The event also generally attracts a couple of big-name musical acts as well as the president.
While the ultimate goal is for Goshen to serve as the permanent site of the event, much needs to be done to make that happen including land aquisition and development, said Nicole Slater, a spokeswoman for the Scouts.
“They’re not looking at other places right now; we’re still embarking on the process, not at the end of it,” Slater said.
The decision came after an 18-month review of possible locations to create a national scouting center, officials said in a news release. The center would focus on creating a permanent home for the Jamboree, establishing a new high-adventure base and creating new training opportunities.
“In its entirety, the center will offer a new American landmark - a multipurpose, year-round destination for Scouting activities that will become the epicenter for the best that Scouting has to offer,” said Jack D. Furst, who oversaw the selection process.
Goshen already serves as home to the Goshen Scout Reservation, located on more than 4,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia. The site, about a three-and-a-half hour drive from Washington, has six separate camps on the shores of its own 450-acre Lake Merriweather.
Rockbridge County Administrator Claire Collins said the decision will help bring visitors to the region and create jobs at the site as well as hospitality businesses in the area.
“It is something that will feed the economic engine in what is right now a very economic downturn in our area and help give some sense of hope to people,” Collins said.
The organization also announced plans to locate the high-adventure camp part of the national scouting center in either Fayette or Raleigh counties in West Virginia. It also operates high-adventure bases in Florida, Minnesota and New Mexico.
The Boy Scouts have held the gathering since 1937. Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County has hosted the event since 1981, but some have questioned whether the Department of Defense could continue to financially support the event because the Scouts require members to swear an oath of duty to God.
In exchange for getting use of the Army training base, officials have said the Scouts have made base improvements that include road paving and plumbing upgrades. And the Army uses the Jamboree as an opportunity to train personnel in crowd control, communications and other logistical skills.
The 10-day event made headlines in 2005 when four adult Scout leaders were killed in an electrical accident on the opening day of the event attended by more than 40,000 Boy Scouts, leaders and volunteers from around the world. The tragedy was followed by days of intense heat that sickened more than 300 Scouts and visitors. And a scheduled visit by then-President Bush was postponed twice due to weather.