A city-owned site behind Water Street is set to change as Henderson advances a downtown park redevelopment project that includes the demolition of a Girl Scout house dating to 1943. The building's lease with the city expires today, according to FOX5 Vegas.
The house sits within the planned park construction area and will not be moved or rebuilt elsewhere, Girl Scout leader Carolyn Wheeler told FOX5. More than 13 troops and over 100 girls regularly use the space, according to the station's report, and Girl Scout leaders say they have not found another meeting location in Henderson. The city has provided no monetary support or introductions to potential facilities, the report said, though it shared contacts for possible sites.
A Decades-Old Arrangement Comes to an End
The city began giving the Girl Scouts exclusive use of the downtown recreational center park building in September 1979 under a rent-free lease. Henderson notified the organization on August 17 that the 47-year arrangement would not be renewed. The city owns the land, while Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada owns the building, according to the station's account. City officials say they have communicated with the Girl Scouts about the project over the past year and plan to continue working with the organization, even as demolition proceeds.
The city says it is reconfiguring the downtown park and remapping part of it for sale to its redevelopment agency, which would then sell the property for future redevelopment. That explanation places the Girl Scout house's removal within a broader land-use decision, while the organization continues looking for a Henderson meeting site.
Wartime Roots Predate the City Itself
The Girl Scout house's history stretches back to the earliest days of Henderson, when Water Street and the surrounding townsite were built in 1941 and 1942 as a federal company town for workers at the Basic Magnesium plant, according to the City of Henderson. The magnesium produced there was critical to Allied aircraft construction during World War II, and the name Water Street came from the pipeline used to supply water to the Basic Magnesium plant. The Henderson Council of Girl Scouts was chartered in 1943, the same year the Girl Scout house opened, per the Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada history, before that local council folded into a broader regional body in 1952.
Henderson itself wasn't officially incorporated until April 1953, meaning the Girl Scout house predates the city's own founding. After the Basic Magnesium plant shut down following the war, the Nevada Legislature passed legislation in March 1947 allowing the state to acquire the property, a step that eventually paved the way for incorporation, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The townsite housed roughly 7,400 residents at the time Henderson became a city.
What the Records Show About History and Meeting Space
The historical record identifies Water Street as an early commercial and civic center of Henderson and says its name came from the pipeline that supplied the Basic Magnesium plant, according to the City of Henderson Redevelopment Agency and The Henderson Historical Society. Those materials document the area's industrial and civic history but do not establish that local officials evaluated preservation or adaptive-reuse options for the Girl Scout house before demolition. For organizations seeking alternatives, the City of Henderson lists room-rental packages at the Black Mountain, Henderson Multigenerational, Silver Springs, Whitney Ranch and Valley View recreation centers. The city says rentals are available during operating hours and subject to availability, so the listings do not by themselves confirm space for the displaced troops.
Downtown Redevelopment Has Been Years in the Making
The demolition fits into a much larger pattern. Henderson officially established its Downtown Redevelopment Area back in October 1995 to revitalize the Water Street corridor through public-private partnerships and tax increment financing, and the agency now manages five designated redevelopment areas citywide, per city records. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 279 gives municipal redevelopment agencies like Henderson's the legal authority to acquire, remap, and sell public land within these districts to eliminate blight and spur economic development.
That authority has translated into major spending nearby. The city spent $32 million in December 2022 to purchase the 35-acre former Fiesta Casino property using redevelopment funds, a deal Hoodline previously reported was aimed at driving downtown foot traffic and business growth. The city has also aggressively updated its downtown infrastructure in recent years, including building the Water Street Plaza after demolishing the old Henderson Convention Center in 2019.
Girl Scouts' Regional Footprint Extends Beyond Henderson
Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada serves more than 10,000 girls and adults in Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, and Nye counties and the southern part of Inyo County, California, according to Nevada Volunteers. The council holds other regional properties, including a second historic Girl Scout House in Boulder City and the 70-acre Camp Frias Frontier in Alamo, acquired through a record $9 million private land donation in 2018 — the largest private donation in Girl Scouts USA history, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The council's programming spans four pillars — STEAM, outdoor leadership, life skills, and entrepreneurship — and eligible older scouts may earn the Gold Award.
None of those other properties, however, solve the immediate problem facing Henderson's displaced troops. With the lease now expired and demolition looming, Girl Scout leaders say they are still searching for a place for their troops to meet somewhere in Henderson.
