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MT. STERLING, ILL. -- It's been a place where area girls have formed bonds and learned more about the great outdoors.

Now that property is about to change hands.

The Girls Scouts of Central Illinois has sold the Wildwood Girl Scout Center in Mt. Sterling to a private individual.

The announcement comes as no surprise, as the Girl Scouts announced its decision to sell the property a couple of years ago.

KHQA's Rajah Maples sat down with the communication specialist this afternoon for this exclusive KHQA report.

The Wildwood Girl Scout Center is among several properties the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois plans to sell as part of a 10-year property plan.

A few years ago, ten volunteers formed a committee to asses the Girl Scout properties.

The group worked with a market research company to survey the girls about what kinds of activities they wanted; evaluate who's using the properties and how much; and how much it costs to maintain them.

Communications Specialist Erica Douglas said, "What they found in that assessment is only 4 percent of our girl members area attending summer resident camp but 82 percent of our girls said they would attend resident camp if we offered the facilities they want. With this sale brings opportunity. We have preliminary architectural plans to bring an urban program center to Quincy, which provides meeting space for our troops and potential program opportunities such as a climbing wall, green space and a full kitchen."

Douglas also said the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois plans to develop a destination camp near Peoria that all girls can attend in the organization's 38-county region. The decision did not come without controversy. A few Girl Scouts boycotted cookie sales last year to oppose the Wildwood sale.

Douglas said, "We understand there are emotions tied to the sale of this property. Many memories were made there and that won't be forgotten."

You can find more details about the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois' 10-year property plan by clicking here.