NILES Girl Scouts continue to search for new home

One real estate agent dropped the Girl Scouts' listing after there was no interest.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- It's been more than four months and not one bite.
Fishing for a new home is proving difficult for the Girl Scouts Lake to River Council.
The council, currently housed in a building on Warren Avenue, started putting out the word last July that it needed a new site with more space. But so far, nothing's come through, explains Executive Director Karen Conklin.
"The first Realtor we were working with called us and said they wanted to drop the listing since there's been no interest at all," she said. "We just got a call from another Realtor, though, so our board will meet to discuss switching."
About 20 full-time staffers work at the current location, which is a former office building for RMI Co. and was purchased by the council in the early 1970s for $1.
The split-level building only has about 6,000 square feet of space, cannot be made handicap-accessible without extensive renovations and is not able to adapt to changing technology, officials said.
Best scenario
Ideally, the council would like to find a 22,000 square-foot building in Trumbull or northern Mahoning County, which is centralized for the area the council represents.
Lake to River Council serves girls in Ashtabula, Columbiana, Trumbull and Mahoning counties. Membership has tripled since 1992 to almost 9,000 girls and 3,000 adults, and looks to continue increasing.
But aside from just not getting any word on available buildings, Conklin said, the council is working on getting finances in place to make a move.
"Right now, there's just no money to move," she said.
The annual cookie sale -- the biggest event of the year for Girl Scouts across the country -- is ready to start soon, she noted, which should help the financial situation.
But the hunt for a suitable home still continues, she said.
slshaulis@vindy.com