Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan is selling its 55-acre site at 8483 Crane Road, in York Township, in the southeast area of Washtenaw County.
Mary Flegal, president of GSHOM’s board of directors, said the board approved the sale of Camp Crawford in November. The camp reportedly had been losing money since 2008 and an evaluation found that the ongoing cost of maintaining Camp Crawford was no longer feasible.
In 2012, the camp cost GHSOM $40,000 in maintenance, while it generated $5,000 in revenue.
"The cost of keeping the camp open for business far outweighs the actual use of the property,” said Matt Bates, chief information and property manager for GSHOM. “In addition, there are no opportunities to expand the facility.”
The camp will be listed with Bill Milliken of Milliken Realty at an asking price of $850,000.
The property has a main lodge that can accommodate 60 people. The lodge has kitchen facilities, an attached apartment and a maintenance shed.
The property also features a cluster of small cabins and a "bat house" that provides shelter for thousands of bats.
“This is truly a unique property,” said Joyce Blomgren, GSHOM board member.
Flegal said proceeds from the sale will be used to increase the amount and variety of programming and services provided by GSHOM to the 34 counties it serves, where more than 20,000 girls are scouts and more than 5,000 adults are volunteers.
"There is a great deal of history with these camps and we will be asking those with fond memories of Camp Crawford to share those memories in a way that can be captured and preserved," Blomgren said.
Jane Parikh, the group's communications specialist, said GSHOM hasn't yet decided how it will collect and share those testimonies.
GSHOM has nine other camp properties, two of which, Camp Linden and Camp O' The Hills, are less than an hour away from Camp Crawford.