Jump to content

Summit Bechtel Reserve: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Rlevse (talk | contribs)
93,195 edits
income local
Rlevse (talk | contribs)
93,195 edits
Line 80: Line 80:
{{reflist
{{reflist
| refs =
| refs =
<ref name="economy">{{cite news
|url=http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/201010240461
|title=Scout Deal Expected To Be Big Boon
|work=Charleston Daily Mail
|date=October 25, 2010
|accessdate=October 30, 2010}}
</ref>
<ref name="googlemap">{{cite web
<ref name="googlemap">{{cite web
|url=http://maps.google.com/maps?q=west+virginia+map&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=West+Virginia&gl=us&ei=zKrMTLejEYmusAPbx6CGDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ8gEwAA
|url=http://maps.google.com/maps?q=west+virginia+map&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=West+Virginia&gl=us&ei=zKrMTLejEYmusAPbx6CGDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ8gEwAA

Revision as of 01:00, 31 October 2010

The Summit
OwnerBoy Scouts of America
LocationGlen Jean, West Virginia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates37°55′35″N 81°09′00″W / 37.92639°N 81.15000°W / 37.92639; -81.15000
Founded2010
FounderStephen Bechtel, Jr.
 Scouting portal

The Summit: Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve is one of four High Adventure Base facilities managed by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) located near Beckley and Glen Jean, West Virginia.[1] The Summit is the future home of the national Scout jamboree (the BSA’s flagship event) and the National Center for Scouting Excellence. It is 10,600 acres (43 km2) acres in size.[1]

On November 18, 2009 the BSA announced the selection of The Summit as the location and that the acquisition of this property and its construction was made possible through a donation from the Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.[2] The $50 million donation is the largest in the history of the BSA.[1][3] On October 22, 2010 the BSA announced that total donations had reached $100 million, including a $25 million donation from the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation.[4] Both Stephen Bechtel and Walter Scott, Jr. are recipients of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA).[5] October 22 is also the day the BSA announced the dates of the 2013 National Jamboree and the day ground was broken at The Summit with 22 golden shovels.[4][6] The Scott funds will fund the building of the Scott Scouting Valley. In recognition of a large gift of an undisclosed amount from T. Michael and Gillian Goodrich, The Summit's main lake will be called Goodrich Lake. Mike Goodrich is also a DESA recipient.[1][4][5]

The site for The Summit is located in Fayette County and Raleigh County in southern West Virginia, adjacent to the New River Gorge National River, which is east of the camp.[7][8] Managed by the National Park Service (NPS), the New River Gorge NRA is a 70,000 acres (280 km2) park that exemplifies the typically rugged Appalachian Mountains, and is a popular whitewater rafting, mountain biking, rock climbing, and tourism destination.[9] It is also the home of the New River Gorge Bridge.

Development of The Summit is now in progress. The current goals of construction at the site are developing infrastructure, providing access to the area’s resources foroutdoor activities, and preparing for the more than 50,000 anticipated attendees of the 2013 National Scout Jamboree. The Summit is expected to inject $25.3 million into the local economy annually.[10]

Inception

Plans for The Summit began in 2007 when BSA leadership began looking for a permanent location for the National Scout Jamboree, which had been held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia since 1981 as well as seeking another high adventure base for the large number of Scouts who are wait-listed every at the other three high adventure camps every year.[2] A committee in charge of site selection and project planning was created. The committee named the new venture Project Arrow, chaired by Jack D. Furst. Plans for Project Arrow grew to include not only a venue for the Jamboree, but also for a summer camp, a high adventure base, and a leadership center, all housed on the same contiguous property.[11]

More than 80 sites in 28 states were visited over an 18 month span and inspected as possible locations for the new venue.[1][11] The top fifteen sites were visited and in October 2008 the list was cut to three sites: Saline County, Arkansas; Goshen, Rockbridge County, Virginia; and the New River region of West Virginia. In February 2009 Arkansas was cut from the list, leaving Virginia and West Virginia.[2][11][12] On August 4, 2009, the BSA announced it was no longer considering the Virginia site as the permanent host of the National Jamboree and was looking into the feasibility of the West Virginia site hosting the National Jamboree as well as the leadership and high adventure programs.[12]

On Wednesday November 18, 2009, the BSA announced that it had chosen the West Virginia site, known locally as the Garden Grounds property, as the future home of The Summit.[13]

One of the deciding factors for Project Arrow in choosing the West Virginia site was its adjacency to the New River Gorge NRA. More than 13 miles of the property borders the park, giving Scouts and Scouters access to more than 70,000 acres of managed wilderness beyond the Summit property.[1]

The BSA and Project Arrow has partnered with the NPS to create park programs and increased access in anticipation of the new High Adventure Base.[14]

Location

File:TheSummit.jpg
Part of The Summit

The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve is in southern West Virginia bordering the New River Gorge National River Area. Approximately 8,000 acres (32 km2) acres of the property are in Fayette County, West Virginia. The remaining roughly 2,600 acres (11 km2) acres are in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The property borders the communities of Glen Jean, McCreery, Thurmond, and Mount Hope.[1][7][8] To the south is the city of Beckley, and to the north are the towns of Oak Hill and Fayetteville. To the northwest is the capital city of Charleston.[15]

Transportation networks servicing the area include interstate 64 from the east and west, Interstate 77 from the south, and Interstate 79 from the north. These interstates are connected by U.S. Route 19, which borders the western side of the property.[15] There are commercial airports in Beckley and Charleston with daily flights in and out of West Virginia. Also, the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and the Pittsburgh International Airport are both within an estimated 3.5 hour drive from The Summit. Amtrak’s Cardinal connects Chicago to New York via the New River Gorge, with stops within the New River Gorge NRA in Prince and Thurmond.

Proposed features

The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve will become a National Center for Scouting Excellence, which will have four divisions of activity: the National Scout Jamboree, a High Adventure Base, a National Scout Summer Camp, and a Center for Leadership and Excellence.[2][11] There are also plans for five regional subcamps, and staff and centralized services area, an Order of the Arrow area, a large outdoor arena, mountain bike and cross country mountain bike areas, and a challenge course.[8] Construction and operation of The Summmit is in firm lines with the BSA's Leave No Trace program.[1][2]

The Summit property was once the site of extensive coal mining, an industry that the state of West Virginia is known for. The remnants of long abandoned surface mines within the property have created wide flat areas that tier the terrain into a series of benches, effectively pre-grading and excavating the property, and allowing for many of the roads and infrastructure sites on the property to begin construction without extensive earth moving.

Sections of the property contain large flat areas engineered to accommodate regional camp headquarters and sub-camps. The sub-camp farthest from The Summit’s core area will be 1.3 miles, with an elevation gain of no more than 300 feet. Pedestrian pathways reduce walking times from regional camps to the core activity center to 12–15 minutes.

A permanent arena on the far side of the valley will seat 6000 to 8000 people, which will be built as a natural extension to the property’s lower bowl amphitheatre section, for a total arena area large enough for 80,000 people during the National Scout Jamboree.

A lake at the center of the site’s infrastructure will separate regional campsfrom the arena, action areas, transportation depot, and other traditional core areas.

A valley on the Summit property will be crossed by a triple-walkway pedestrian suspension bridge sponsored by Consol Energy. The 700 foot long, $15 million bridge will connect the western and eastern portions of the core areas of the property.[16]

Bechtel family

Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. is the grandson of Warren A. Bechtel, founder of the Bechtel Corporation, the largest engineering company in the United States. He took over as manager of the company in 1960 at the age of 35. He retired from the company in June 1990. He is an Eagle Scout.[17]

The S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and the Stephen Bechtel Fund, both family foundations, provide support to, among other groups, select non-profit organizations that address challenges to the economic welfare of the United States.

Program areas supported by the foundations include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education , Environment, Character and Citizenship Development, and Preventative Healthcare and Selected Research.

The Bechtel Foundation donated $50 million to the BSA to help the Arrow Project purchase and develop the land that is now The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve.[18]

2013 National Scout Jamboree

The current focus of the Arrow Project is preparing The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve property for the 2013 National Scout Jamboree, which will be held July 15-24, 2013.[4]

The BSA anticipates attendance at approximately 50,000 Scouts and Scouters as well as over 300,000 visitors over the course of 10 days for the event.[4] This will effectively double the population of Fayette County, West Virginia, the location of The Summit, for the event’s duration. 2013 will be the first time the Jamboree takes place at The Summit. Subsequent national jamborees will also be held there.[6]

The BSA is also putting in a bid to host the 2019 World Scout Jamboree at The Summit.[4][19]

BSA national high adventure bases

The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve is the fourth permanent location for the BSA’s national high adventure base wilderness programs. The other three are The Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, The Northern Tier Motional High Adventure Base in Minnesota, and The National High Adventure Sea Base in Florida.[1]

National High Adventure Bases offer special opportunities within the BSA for Scouts and Scouters to experience technical outdoor challenges native to the bases' natural settings.

With the addition of The Summit as the newest high adventure base, groups will be exposed to programs unique to the New River Gorge Region, most notably, white water rafting. The New River offers white water rapids rated from Class II to Class V on the International Scale Of River Difficulty along the more than 50 miles of river within the New River Gorge National River Area. The New River is one of the largest commercially run whitewater rivers in the eastern United States, by volume.

Other outdoor activities that are popular in the gorge will be offered at The Summit, as well. Rock climbing, rappelling (abseiling), mountain biking, hiking, geocaching, and orienteering will all be part of Scout programs at The Summit.

Additionally, other high adventure sports programs are being planned for The Summit to appeal to a new generation of Scouts. Some of the activities being considered, with help from Scout feedback at the 2010 Jamboree, are skateboarding, freestyle BMX, mountainboarding, ATV riding, riverboarding, adventure racing, and wakeboarding.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Boy Scouts to Bring World-Class Center of Scouting Excellence to West Virginia". Boy Scouts of America. November 18, 2009. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Heartbeat Of Scouting". The State Journal. December 10, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  3. ^ "Billionaire Boy Scout". Forbes. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sendor, Julia (October 23, 2010). "Boy Scouts of America New Major Donors and Jamboree Dates Announced". Raleigh Register-Herald. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Distinguished Eagle Scouts". Boy Scouts of America. October 15, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Ground Broken on Boy Scouts' New W.Va. Jamboree Site". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Associated Press. October 22, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Ayres, Jackie (December 30, 2009). "National Scouting Center". Raleigh Register-Herald. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c "Proposed Master Plan" (PDF). Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  9. ^ "New River Gorge National River Area". National Park Service. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  10. ^ "Scout Deal Expected To Be Big Boon". Charleston Daily Mail. October 25, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  11. ^ a b c d "Project Arrow". Scouting News. February 11, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Virginia Site No Longer Being Considered for National Scouting Center". Boy Scouts of America. August 4, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  13. ^ Antolini, Carl 'Butch' (November 23, 2009). "Boy Scouts' Announcement 'Unbelievable Partnership'". Fayette Tribune. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  14. ^ "NPS Joins in National Boy Scout Jamboree". National Park Service. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  15. ^ a b "West Virginia Map". Google Maps. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  16. ^ "Consol Energy Funds Boy Scout Bridge in West Virginia". Pittsburgh Live. May 29, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  17. ^ "Riley P. Bechtel". Bechtel Corporation. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  18. ^ Ayres, Jackie (November 19, 2009). "Bechtel Gives Amazing $50 Million". Raleigh Register-Herald. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  19. ^ "BSA Announces Additonal Donations to the National Scout Reserve". Scouting News. October 22, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Summit: Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Summit_Bechtel_Reserve&oldid=393892162"