Clinton Girl Scout Hut could be demolished, future now uncertain

CLINTON, SC (FOX Carolina) – Local leaders are pushing back after the city of Clinton announced a beloved upstate Girl Scout cabin could be demolished, taking a meeting space for about 100 girls.

When you enter the Clinton Girl Scout Hut on Hickory Street, one is met with a wall of handprints signed by Girl Scouts and troop leaders over the years.

“Here they learn, grow, develop. This has really been the focal point of Girl Scouting in Laurens County in this area,” said Lynn Arve, director of operations for Girl Scouts of South Carolina Mountains to Midlands.

That’s why Arve said she was “shocked” to learn the city would vote to demolish the building earlier this month.

“The city has not contacted us,” she added.

FOX Carolina spoke with Clinton City Manager Tom Brooks about why the city did not contact the Girl Scouts about the vote.

When asked if anyone in town had contacted the Girl Scouts before council members met Aug. 5, Brooks said, “No, I don’t think so.”

FOX Carolina then asked if she thought they should have been contacted.

“Possibly,” Brooks said. “It’s a pure liability issue at this point.”

Brooks said the city is looking at several buildings in the area that don’t line up with building codes.

“This was a building built in the 1930s or 20s, and that was before building codes,” he added. That’s why Brooks said the building poses safety risks.

“We want to provide a meeting place for the Boy Scouts, but a safe place for them to meet … I don’t think they’ve used it for a meeting in quite some time,” Brooks said.

Arve said that was not the case. According to Arve, the building is in constant use and as recently as this summer.

Since Arve overruled and spoke to council members during the last meeting, the vote to demolish the building has been tabled for now.

“For our Girl Scouts and volunteers here in this area, I definitely want them to know that we are with them,” she said.

Brooks said he is willing to work with the Girl Scouts to find a cost-effective way to bring the building up to code.

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