The good news is that Saline County was one of the top three sites considered as a permanent home for the Boy Scouts of America jamboree and a national Scouting center.
The bad news — rather, the disappointing news — is that the project is going to separate sites in Virginia and West Virginia.
Saline County became a contender for the Scouting facilities through the Saline County Economic Development Corp., said state Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant.
“Eighty sites in 28 states were considered for this project and Saline County’s proposal was one of the three finalists,” Broadway said.
The area proposed for the Boy Scout facilities was a 10,000-acre site near Paron. “We were one of the final three in a process that started in June,” Broadway said.
A detailed presentation about the entire project will take place Tuesday afternoon at the Capitol in Little Rock, Broadway noted.
“For us, we’re disappointed that we didn’t get it,” Broadway said, “but to make it from 80 down to the final three, to the very end, shows that the Saline County Economic Development Corp. and Saline County have come a long way, in terms of putting ourselves on the map.
“For the last two RFPs we submitted, we’ve made it to the finals,” he said.
The other project Broad-way referred to was the Hewlett Packard plant hat eventually went to Conway.
“Without the efforts of the last few years, we would never have been in a position to be considered for these projects, so we’ve come a long way in a short time. Obviously we hope to land one, but we’ve learned a great deal throughout the process.”
Through site consultants, SCEDC representatives have been able to tout this area’s strengths through the additional contacts. “The site consultants have other clients and we have been able to show them that we have the capability to respond ... We have a great team assembled and we are prepared to be a player in economic development. Even by not getting the projects, we’ve come a long way in a brief time.”
Broadway said he regrets that the county lost this project.
The National Scouting Center will comprise three major areas of focus: the permanent home for the national Scout jamboree, a new high-adventure base and expanded opportunities for national leadership and outdoor skills training.
The site selection process, referred to as Project Arrow, was overseen by a committee that narrowed submissions to three outstanding finalist proposals.
Jack D. Furst, chairman of Project Arrow, called the proposals from Virginia, West Virginia and (Saline County) Arkansas “outstanding.”
The committee’s final decision was to place the national jamboree in Gosh-en, Rockbridge County, Virginia, and the new high-adventure base in Fayette and Raleigh counties, West Virginia.
“It would have such a wonderful project for us to have here,” Broadway noted. “The Boy Scout executive team and search team are first-class people to deal with, which made the experience even better. They were a class act.
“The thing we will talk about next week is the enormity of this project,” the senator said. “There’s never been one like it to everyone’s knowledge.”
The new vision for a national Scouting center offers a new American landmark, Furst said. “It will be a year-round destination for Scouting activities that will become the epicenter for the best that Scouting offers.”
“To be in the game took a lot of different agencies — at the county level, at the state level, all levels of government and the private sector,” Broadway said. “We had a huge team that had to come together to be able to respond and prepare for visits by the group.
“The great thing about it is that everybody worked so well together. I take a great deal of pride in the leadership we received from Gov. Beebe, from the county judge, from our congressional delegation at the federal level — everybody played a part, it was an amazing experience to see all that come together.
“Normally you don’t talk about a project you didn’t get,” Broadway said, “but it was such an amazing project in how everybody worked together that people need to know about it. Agencies were involved that normally wouldn’t work together, but came together when they needed to.”
“We had proposed that the entire project could have been on one site here, off Highway 9 around Paron. From there, they could walk right into the Ouachita National Forest.”
Broadway said that he personally benefited from the experience. “In our county, if you’re in your routine and going places you normally go, there are a lot of places in the county you don’t see. I saw places a lot of people don’t normally see and we tend to forget how beautiful our county is.
“This area is an incredible sight. A lot of us enjoyed it.”
“We were out there one day getting ready for the team, and while standing on top of a hill, you could see Pinnacle Mountain one way and the Hot Springs tower from another direction. It’s beautiful.”
Broadway said preparing the county’s proposal was “a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.”
“We were told that Saline County should be proud of what’s here,” he said.
“It’s a testament to the state and local team that there never was a challenge that we couldn’t find an answer or resolution to,” he said.
“There’s nothing we could go back and do any differently,” he said. “We knew from the beginning that we faced the obstacle of not being near Washington, D.C.
“The jamboree has always been held on the East Coast,” he said. “Part of the experience is the journey to the jamboree and Washington has always been part of that. ... It’s difficult to compete with that, but we played to our strengths and we understand the decision.”
Broadway added, “We’re already working on the next one.”
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