City gets some cookies; Girl Scouts a new home

Erin Neff

Friday, March 10, 2000 | 12:35 p.m.

The giddiness filled a City Hall conference room Thursday even before the sugar-induced happiness of a mouth full of peanut butter patties.

After years of discussion, the Frontier Girl Scouts will be getting a new place to call home and sell legions of the brightly-colored boxes of cookies that are being passed around offices this time of year.

The City Council will likely approve both a lease agreement and sales contract with the Frontier Girl Scouts at its meeting March 15.

"We're excited about the prospect of having a new home," said Pat Miller, executive director of the Frontier Girl Scouts, during the council's Real Estate Committee meeting Thursday.

The Scouts currently have a long-term lease with the city for their administration building at 2530 Stewart Ave. The city, however, wanted that parcel for inclusion in a project at the former armory site nearby.

If the council approves the deal Wednesday, the city will trade a vacant two-acre parcel near Harris Avenue and Mojave Road to become the site of the Girl Scouts' new building.

The city will also pay $120,000 in off-site improvements to the property, which is near Freedom Park. That amount equals the total value of the current Girl Scouts' leasehold interest and improvements at the Stewart Avenue site.

"This really is a win-win situation," Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said. "We have a chance to fully develop the cultural center on the armory site, and they have a chance to get a new building."

The proposed agreement will allow the Girl Scouts to remain at the Stewart building for up to 10 months, said Jeff Maresh, the city's director of business development.

The city could also make arrangements for the Scouts to use temporary trailers at their new location if needed after the 10 months, provided the council approves, Maresh said.

Councilmen Michael Mack and Lawrence Weekly, who serve on the Real Estate Committee, both thanked the Girl Scouts for their patience in working with the city.

"I know this has been a long, tedious process for you," Weekly said. "But this is going to be a big added attraction to that parcel over near Freedom Park."

Weekly also asked the Girl Scouts if they planned any type of outreach program for young girls in the area of their new building. That area, which has a large Hispanic population, has traditionally been underserved by nonathletic community activities.

Miller said the Frontier Girl Scouts are expanding their outreach programs, including drop-in centers in neighborhoods and in-school programs. She also said a Hispanic Action Committee has been established to examine the very things Weekly suggested.

When Weekly first entered the room and spotted seven boxes of cookies on the table, he declared, "Cookies are on Mack. Hook us up. We want snacks."

Then as architect Steve Carpenter presented plans for the new Girl Scouts building, Weekly fished a $5 bill out of his pocket and slid the red box of peanut butter patties in front of him.

No sooner had the committee authorized the full council to vote on the plans, then Mack, Weekly and city staff broke into the goodies.