The Pacific Harbors Council Boy Scouts of America voted on Dec. 16 to close Federal Way-based Camp Kilworth, among four other properties.

Citing financial difficulties, Scout Executive Ralph Voelker said there’s been a decline in scout membership by almost 40 percent. At the same time, there’s been a reduction in how often their properties are used, however, the facilities continue to need maintenance as they deteriorate.

“For us to have that property, to use it only one week of the year, weekends and scattered use throughout, it’s just not making any financial sense at this time,” Voelker said about Camp Kilworth, adding that they lose about $30,000 a year maintaining the 25-acre property.

The council had been subsidizing those losses by borrowing money.

In addition to Camp Kilworth, the Pacific Harbors Council voted to close Camp Curran in Tacoma, Camp Delezenne in Elma, Camp Hahobas in Tahuya and the Tumwater Service Center, which will be replaced with a smaller rental property.

The council will keep the Creighton Center in Tacoma and Camp Thunderbird on Summit Lake in Olympia, with plans to redevelop that 200-acre property.

Voelker estimates it will cost about $2 million to update that camp for their “one camp plan.” The closure of their five properties will save them somewhere between $100,000-$200,000, he added.

Of the seven troops on the council, four of them are from Federal Way.

“They won’t have a place to do day camp,” said Maribeth Hewitt, a Federal Way resident whose son has been a boy scout for almost three years. “It’s a wonderful place to have a ceremony or get together, it has a beautiful amphitheater, city lodge — a gorgeous old lodge, and it has a lot of history. It feels like a very special place to do an Eagle ceremony.”

Voelker said the troops will have other camps to go to, likely to Camp Parsons in Seattle for the older boys or Camp Thunderbird for the younger ones.

The council is still deciding whether the hiking trails will remain open to the public or not because it could pose some liability from an insurance standpoint.

“Neighbors like using it to go to walk but, at the same time, we don’t have anyone there checking on trails or trees leaning over,” Voelker said. “I don’t know if that will be a safe environment.”

While the council is closing Camp Kilworth, which could happen as soon as February, Voelker said it’s not their intent to sell the properties.

“Even if we could, we’re not sure we would,” he said. “It’s a beautiful property and we’re still studying the potential of STEM education [at the property].”

In 2005, the council announced that they wanted to sell Camp Kilworth (and the city of Federal Way wanted to buy) but was stopped by the property’s trustees, who claimed its sale would violate a 1934 deed from previous owner William Kilworth’s second wife. There was a requirement in the deed that the property must always be used for scouting purposes.

After the Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal, the case was closed, but the camp remained open.

For the last year, the council has deliberated on how to get themselves out of the financial hole, which is caused by the declining scout membership.

Voelker said the reason for the lack of participation is kids have more choices for recreational activities today, but also because of the Peachjar system school districts use for flyer distribution.

“The Federal Way school district has moved to Peachjar that you pay a fee to put a flyer into a newsletter,” Voelker said. “Every school district that’s happening, we’re finding it’s harder to recruit children.”

Peachjar allows flyers to be delivered electronically instead of in print.

“Employees don’t have to handle all these flyers,” he said. “But we find it almost like doing nothing at all.”

Federal Way Public Schools spokeswoman Ann Cook said Peachjar is free to the districts but organizations pay a small fee for distribution and online posting.

“Prior to electronic distribution, organizations paid printing costs for flyers,” she said in an email.

Cook verified that fees have not increased and if an organization felt the fee was too high, they could contact Peachjar to negotiate a lower fee.

Over the next few months, the council will schedule meetings in each district to share more information and answer questions.

“This was a painful decision which no one wanted to make,” Voelker said in an announcement. “However, by making this decision we have built a bridge to the future for generations of scouts to come.”

For more information on the closures, visit pacificharbors.org.