Girl Scouts: It's OK To Sell Camp Cookieland

The Girl Scouts have made a decision about their Camp Cookieland. The longtime camp out by Newalla is right in the path of the proposed turnpike expansion. 

The Girl Scouts bought Camp Cookieland back in 1948 and since then it's served as a beloved camp for hundreds of Girl Scouts.

When the council learned the purposed expansion of the turnpike would impact the camp, the decision of what to do about it was taken to the girls.

“There were some emotions, there were some tears. It was a hard decision,” said Shannon Evers, CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma.

During a two day summit last month, Girl Scouts met with engineers and members of the Turnpike Authority and then agreed to recommend to their board it was okay to sell the camp.

3/14/2016 Related Story: Proposed Turnpike Expansion To Impact Girl Scout's 'Camp Cookieland'

“They were very concerned about residents in the area, they were very concerned about the number of rooftops and houses and people it will effect, they were very concerned about the number of accidents and deaths and people who are getting injured in the current transportation system,” said Evers.

Since then, the Turnpike Authority has moved the final route to go right through the middle of the camp.

The Turnpike Authority director has authorized early acquisition of the property at the request of the Girl Scouts and hopes to have an offer to the council early next week. The council will present that offer to their board of directors next month.  

No decision has been made on how the Girl Scouts would reinvest that money.

Construction of the turnpike won’t begin until late 2017 at the earliest so camp CookieLand will remain open this summer.

The girls also came to a consensus that the new turnpike should be named something "Girl Scouty" like the Juliette Gordon Low Turnpike after the founder of the Girl Scouts or maybe The Trefoil Turnpike after the popular cookie.