Tanasi Girl Scouts have wanted a new headquarters forever. The old location was difficult to find and in a less than popular area of town. It was a leased building on leased property. There were no outdoor accomodations for ceremonies or gatherings and the indoor facilities didn’t meet the needs of an active council. I always thought they should build someplace rustic and natural. Knoxville is diverse enough that this could easily happen within city limits. When the great council merge was announced, it left many wondering if the newly merged council that now includes the Tri-Cities area and Chattanooga would be headquartered somewhere other than Knoxville. Now, the council headquarters is going to move to the existing Downtown West strip mall behind Bearden High School. The same strip mall that is physically connected to the student parking section of the high school. I’m sure the facilities will be nice, but I really wish they were locating someplace with a more natural exterior. Like, maybe a tree on the property instead of only concrete and asphalt surrounding the building. I guess the snakes next door count as wildlife. I hope they know that the high schoolers are going to tag their property the way they have every other business in that strip. Do they know that during school events the overflow parking fills their lot? It’s so close to my house I could walk there, but I still wish they could have built a building of their own, in a setting that reflects an appreciation of nature like the Boy Scouts built instead of leasing space in a strip mall.