Conditions Set for Boy Scout Building Sale

By Julie Bolcer


A Philadelphia city council ordinance would allow the controversial sale of a city-owned building to the regional Boy Scouts association to proceed under two conditions.

The ordinance attempts to settle qualms surrounding the sale, in which the city would sell the 13,000-square-foot headquarters to the Cradle of Liberty Council for $500,000, less than half the appraised value of the building. The sale stems from a civil rights challenge the city lost against the Boy Scouts over the group’s ban on gay members.

Councilman Darrell Clarke, whose district includes the building, introduced the ordinance Thursday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“But written into the legislation were two conditions - that the Scouts could not sell the building for 10 years and that they must provide space for community programs, including diversity training,” the Inquirer reports.

Gay rights advocates including the Equality Forum said the conditions do not go far enough and continued to call on the Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter to halt the settlement.

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