Girl Scouts Urban Campus

Girl Scouts of Buckeye Trails Council is thrilled to unveil the new Urban Campus at 450 Shoup Mill Road in Dayton. The new facility is the culmination of several years of planning and $5 million was raised in the community for the project. The facility is nestled in the woods of the campus and offers new and exciting programs in a building that connects the girls with nature and provides a seamless transition from inside to outside.

The 26,000 SF facility is located in a dense urban neighborhood and is a state of the art experiential learning environment that also houses the Council offices. The design intent was to create an urban camp experience for girls that engages them in the woodland experience and takes advantage of the wooded landscape of the 12-acre site. The council’s administrative offices will occupy 35% of the building’s area.

For 20 years, the Girl Scouts of Buckeye Trails Council occupied a school building built in 1957. In a unique partnership with Dayton Public Schools, the district’s first all-girls academy opened in 2005 in the building formerly owned by the Girl Scouts. Ann Granger, CEO believes sharing the campus is a win-win situation for both the school and Girl Scouts, since the school and Council can reinforce and support the development of the girls and share facilities.

The Council wanted the building to be flexible to provide for changing needs over the years and maintenance-free. Goals included a safe place for the girls to be with their friends in a learning environment.

The Urban Campus features:

• A “green” rooftop area for outdoor camping, star-gazing, and eco-system programming

• An indoor climbing wall

• A “teaching” kitchen, which can also be used for catering for large groups

• An arts studio, complete with firing and glazing kilns

• Several indoor overnight accommodations

• A natural stone ceremonial “bridge” over an existing creek on the property

• An “art wall” to display the girls’ work

• A wireless environment for a cyber-café atmosphere

• Training rooms for adult volunteers

• Boutique for Girls   

• Exhibit area in lobby 

• Classrooms for a wide range of program instruction

There is also a screened tree house area and access to five acres of woodlands. The tree house concept is designed to blend with the natural surroundings and serve as an educational tool that will teach girls about the “green” aspects of the building and the need to respect the environment as part of our daily living.

The Council is pursuing a silver-level LEED certification for the project. The Urban Campus will be just the second LEED certified building, and the first public certified building, in the Dayton region. Architectural firm was Lorenz Williams and Fender Construction was the general contractor for the project.

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