Boy Scouts offices moving from Mount Prospect to Arlington Heights
The Northwest Suburban Council of the Boy Scouts of America will close its Mount Prospect location and open new offices and a Scout shop in Arlington Heights starting in early November.
The news comes just a few weeks after the Northwest Suburban Council announced a consolidation with three other area councils due to financial issues, although a Boy Scouts representative said the change was to allow more visibility with the new location on a main road.
The new offices and shop, approved by the village board Monday, will be located at 617 E. Golf Road and will open in the next two months, said Ray Okigawa of the Northwest Suburban Council.
Okigawa said the council will be in front of the Mount Prospect village board today to approve sale of the current office and shop space at 600 N. Wheeling Road to the owner of a gymnastics store nearby.
Okigawa said this is also a homecoming of sort for the Boy Scouts, which had offices on Rand Road nearly 30 years ago.
The Northwest Suburban Council will lease 7,861 square feet of space for the new Arlington Heights location, and will use about 2,000 square feet of that for a shop that will sell manuals, uniforms, badges and other equipment, according to a staff report. The move is part of a downsizing for the council, which will use a smaller office space than what it had in Mount Prospect, Okigawa said.
The shop will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, while the office portion of the space will be open only during regular business hours.
Because it is a nonprofit, the store will not collect sales tax when selling to Boy Scout members, said Charles Perkins, director of planning and community development.
The space was also chosen because it is zoned for office space, not retail, meaning it has a lower rent that is more manageable for a nonprofit like Boy Scouts, according to a letter from Okigawa to the village. The board unanimously approved a land use variation allowing the council to open a small retail shop in the office area.
“I've been to the location in Mount Prospect, so I can reassure my fellow board members that traffic is light,” said Trustee John Scaletta. “It is something that's needed in the area, so I'm glad it will be here in Arlington Heights.”