The Millenium Campaign: High Adventure! (Part 2)
We conclude our look at the Millennium Capital Campaign with the major capital project of the campaign: the Boxwell Pool. A pool had been an idea that had been floated (sorry) around since as early as 1960, but as the lakefront access was so fantastic, it was never a priority. By the early 2000s, things had changed.
A pool offered program opportunities not available in the lake. The dirtiness of Old Hickory simply made programs lik Snorkeling and Scuba unrealistic. A pool fixed those issues. A pool also served a “value added” for a High Adventure program. With a pool, either an outside group or a troop or a Venture crew could come in, stay at the Parish building, utilize COPE, the shotgun range, and practice a range of skills in the pool–all in one centralized location. For summer camp, Scouts could be transported all to one location. It was a win-win.
The pool was 4000 square feet with zero depth entry access. At least initally, Swimming and Lifesaving Merit Badges would be taught there as well as instructional swim, BSA Lifeguard, and snorkeling. As time went on, some of these moved back to the waterfront areas, but the pool remained a powerful draw. It could be used by not only Boy Scout camps, but also the growing Cub and Webelos Resident camps. With the pool, a true High Adventure Area had emerged at Boxwell Reservation. It opened for its first summer in 2004.
(As a nice dose of serendipity, this final piece of the Millennium campaign was under construction in December 2003, 17 years, and the first run on Boxwell’s Winter Camp, which starts today December 27…)
Seen here is the Pool under construction as well as an overhead view from the Al Hendrickson COPE Tower.