Early Friday morning as she eagerly anticipated the arrival of office furniture, Jennifer Carter worked on a makeshift desk inside the local Girl Scout council’s new regional hub, a 3,400-square-foot service center off Shipyard Boulevard that includes offices, meeting rooms, a kitchen and a store.
“We wanted to have a presence in Wilmington,” said Carter, membership executive for Girl Scouts North Carolina Coastal Pines Region 1, an area that includes the Cape Fear region. “There’s a lot of membership in this area.”
The new facility at 2250 Shipyard Blvd. is expected to be completely furnished and ready to serve in August, with a grand opening celebration for the public scheduled Aug. 23. North Carolina Coastal Pines council, which is responsible for Girl Scout programs in 41 counties, has centers in Raleigh, Fayetteville and Goldsboro.
Carter said the volunteers and staff involved in selecting the fourth service center site looked at other spots nearby, including Leland and the north side of Wilmington, before choosing the Shipyard Boulevard location. Throughout the transaction, the council was represented by Tyler Pegg and Cody Cress of The CRESS Group of Coldwell Banker Commercial Sun Coast Partners.
“We felt like this was in a visible spot, a safe spot. It doesn’t hurt that the Boy Scouts are not far because a lot of families, if they have boys and girls, a lot of times are involved in both scouting organizations,” Carter said.
Boy Scouts of America Cape Fear Council offices and a shop are at 110 Longstreet Drive off Shipyard Boulevard, half a mile from the new Girl Scout service center.
Girl Scout families will be able to purchase uniforms and other supplies at the center’s store, which has a separate outside opening. The store is expected to be open Monday through Friday, as well as some Saturdays at first, and will be overseen by a full-time staff member. Seven staff members will work in the service center, with at least one part-time employee helping out at the store. The center also provides space for training, troop meetings and supply storage.
“We’ve got a lot of initiatives in place, so we really see our membership growing. We didn’t want to get into a space and not have room to grow,” Carter said of the council’s location choice.
In recent years, the council has been working on ways to accommodate growth. In June 2013, North Carolina Coastal Pines sold Camp Pretty Pond, a 135-acre property at 3000 E. Boiling Spring Road in Winnabow, to Orton Plantation Holdings for the price of $825,000, according to Brunswick County property tax records.
“By selling Camp Pretty Pond, resources can be used to provide area Girl Scouts and members with more resources and recreational opportunities,” according to information provided on the council’s website, nccoastalpines.org.
