$6M Offered By Howard County Executive To Buy Camp Ilchester From Girl Scouts

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The uncertain future of Camp Ilchester may have a happy ending after all. On Tuesday, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball offered to buy the property from the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland for $6 million. The 20.73-acre camp has been appraised four times in the past several months, which estimates the value of the property between $4 million and $6.2 million.

“Promoting green infrastructure and preserving open space are important priorities to protect our environment for generations to come,” Ball said. “Through this significant offer, we are moving forward on our promise to preserve land for environmental and agricultural purposes, and we look forward to working with the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland to make this a reality.”

If Ball can reach an agreement with GSCM, the county will pursue County Council approval of an installment purchase agreement to secure Camp Ilchester, providing $700,000 of the purchase price at settlement and the $5.3 million balance in fiscal year 2023.

If the deal goes through, the county will preserve the greenspace and prevent 40 lots from being developed. Potential uses of the camp could include sports programs, outdoor adventure camps, active aging activity and a nature center with nature-based educational programming, Ball said.

The purchase of Camp Ilchester by the county also could help advance the high school #14 project, which will be located at Troy Park in Elkridge by providing several acres of land potentially eligible to offset the conversion of the portions of Troy Park.

In April, current and past Girl Scouts held a protest against the sale of the camp. Numerous people also spoke out at a Girl Scouts of Central Maryland board of directors meeting in favor of keeping the camp. Their efforts fell short, however, as the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland board of directors decided to go ahead and sell Camp Ilchester, one of four Girl Scout camps in the state. Proceeds from the sale would be funneled toward revamping Camp Woodlands in Annapolis.

Carrie Koenig, a fourth-grade Girl Scout troop leader in Howard County, told Patch that eliminating a camp "really decreases the camp experiences available to Girl Scouts in Carroll and Howard counties, especially those without financial means."

"Giving girls and other youth access to green space is incredibly important in scouting. Outdoors is a core Girl Scout value and eliminating this camp will decrease the amount of opportunities Howard and Carroll County Girl Scout girls have at camp," she said.

After learning of Ball's decision to offer to purchase the property, Koenig said The Love for Camp Ilchester Coalition is "incredibly thankful" to Howard County and Calvin Ball for "recognizing the environmental value of the Camp Ilchester property and for making a competitive offer to GSCM, especially in light of Ball’s promise to keep the space green."

"Though we hoped GSCM would not sell the camp, selling to a preservation buyer is the next best alternative. Now, we await a statement from GSCM about the sale and the winning bidder; we cannot rest easy unless we know the county’s offer has been accepted. We have not heard any updates on the status of the camp sale in months, so we hope GSCM responds to Ball’s announcement," she told Patch.