McGee’s to become ‘Swamp Base’

Henderson – After five years of effort, the Evangeline Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America is the new owner of the recently-closed McGee’s Landing Restaurant and Basin Tours. The purchase tops off a commitment made in 2010 to introduce Scouts from around the world to the unique and threatened Atchafalaya Basin Swamp.
In recent years an average of nearly 1,000 Scouts and family members have participated in the ambitious “Atchafalaya Swamp Base High Adventure,” a five-day, 60-mile trek through the swamp and surrounding area. At least that many more each year take part in other Scout-sponsored recreational and preservation efforts. The success of these popular programs made it clear to the Evangeline Area Council that the Atchafalaya could be a great home for a major Scout base.
As former Council president Gary McGoffin wrote, “In 2010, the Council made a 100-year commitment to annually immerse thousands of youths in the Atchafalaya Basin. Our goal was to revitalize scouting in the region, and we identified high adventure as the way to differentiate scouting from other youth activities. The Atchafalaya Basin was the natural setting for that.”
The Swamp Base will take its place alongside the Scouts’ other signature high adventure camps – the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, the Sea Scout Base in Galveston Texas and the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base in the Florida Keys.
Plans for the site include 40,000 sq. ft. of indoor space that will include dorms for staff and Scouts, who have previously made use of UL-Lafayette dormitories. Educational facilities will focus on STEM subjects and outdoor learning experiences.
A restaurant and entertainment space is expected to be part of the plan. The total expenditure for the base is projected to be around $30 million.
Public access to the Basin as well as regular swamp tours will be maintained, according to Swamp Base Executive Director Ben Pierce. One of the tour guides will reportedly be David Allemond who, along with his wife, Peggy, owned and operated McGee’s Landing for the past 32 years.
David Allemond is a former Boy Scout and was glad to play a part in bringing the Swamp Base to fruition. Pierce said of the Allemonds, “What a legacy to leave. They’re selling to a good cause that is going to promote positive uses of the property by giving Scouts and others access and exposure to the area. There is no better setting for our program than that spot on the levee in Henderson.”
Besides being a real boost to the town of Henderson, the year-round presence of Scouts in the Basin promises to be a new and much-needed force for preservation and restoration of a vital part of the life and identity of Acadiana.
“We’re going to be creating a broadly-based constituency for the Atchafalaya Swamp that will help protect and preserve it for years to come,” McGoffin said.