Millicent’s century-old association with the international Scouting movement is about to end as its purpose-built hall is coming to the market. The Millicent Scout Group went into recess two years ago owing to a lack of qualified leaders.

The Adelaide-based Scout headquarters has now decided to sell its Stark Avenue building which was constructed in the mid-1960s. South Australian Scouts Chief Commissioner Jan Turbill said the organisation had a policy of selling assets which were not being used by its members.

In a letter to Wattle Range Council, Ms Turbill indicated where the proceeds from property sales such as the Millicent Scout Hall would go. “Following on from the Royal Commission into child abuse by institutions, Scouts SA and other organisations opted to join a National Redress Scheme to assist child abuse survivors,” Ms Turbill said.

“As part of this, Scouts SA was required to allocate $2m into the Redress Fund. “Scouts SA is committed to helping survivors and the means to do this is by selling assets which are not being used by its youth members. “We acknowledge the past contribution of the Millicent community during the group’s 60 years of providing valuable life skills to the youth from Millicent and district.”

The first attempts to form a Millicent Scout Group began in 1920 with other short-lived bids occurring in 1934 and 1940. A permanent group was founded in 1961 and continued until 2019. The erection of the purpose-built hall in the Housing Trust sub-division at a cost of 4300 pounds ($8600) was preceded by more than three years of community fundraising. The activities included bottle drives which netted 100,000 bottles.

The foundation stone was laid in 1964 and the hall was ready for use the following year.