NEWTON COUNTY, Mo. — Frank Childress Scout Reservation, near Diamond, is now under new ownership and management.
A not-for-profit group called the Frank Childress Reserve Properties Committee purchased the 175-acre facility from the Ozark Trails Council for $500,000. The sale was finalized Wednesday.
Committee Chairman Eric DeGruson said he’s glad the council agreed to the sale, preventing the property from going to the highest bidder.
“If it were on the open market then it probably would have been turned into something else or developed, we had other parties that were interested in the past that looking at that you know an RV park or things like that, so it could have been ended up being anything and the Scouts probably would have lost it,” said DeGruson.
DeGruson adds the facility can be rented out to civic groups when not in use by the Scouts. The property has been in use by the Scouts since the early ’60s.
