Camp Buck Toms Dedicates Renovated Training Facility

Camp Buck Toms, a Boy Scout camp in Rockwood, Tennessee, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday to unveil its newly renovated training building. The enhanced facility will enable the camp to offer a wider array of training programs to East Tennessee Scouts.

Hickory Construction of Alcoa completed the renovation, which was designed by Knoxville’s Johnson Architecture. Generous gifts from many donors funded the project, including lead gifts by UT-Battelle and United Way of Greater Knoxville.

The project involves major cosmetic and functional renovations to the camp’s STEM training center and multi-use facility. The renovated space features a full commercial kitchen, bathrooms and living quarters, as well as new exterior siding and windows. The main room now has vaulted ceilings and exposed trusses to give it a more open feel. Upgraded electrical service enables the camp to offer the welding merit badge.

“We are eager to use this major renovation to better serve Scouts throughout East Tennessee,” said David Williams, scout executive for the Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America. “The improved facility will help us train youth to achieve success in every area of their lives.”

Camp Buck Toms, which is operated by the Great Smoky Mountain Council, provides one of East Tennessee’s finest summer camp programs for Scouting and Venturing. It features courses of instruction for over sixty merit badges, a first-year camper program, a wilderness course and much more.

“I spent many summers at Camp Buck Toms, which helped me a great deal on my way to earning the rank of Eagle Scout,” said Hickory Construction President Ben Pinnell. “The camp has played an important role in the development of Scouts for decades, and I think these renovations will enhance that capability.”

Other world-class facilities at Camp Buck Toms include a private swimming cove of Watts Bar Lake, numerous hiking trails and a ham radio shelter. The camp also offers shooting ranges, a mountain bike program, a wilderness COPE course with over a dozen complex elements, a fishing pier and a climbing tower over sixty feet tall.

“My own son will probably be in Scouts someday, so I’m excited that another generation of our family will be able to share in that experience,” Pinnell said.

For more information on Hickory Construction, visit hickoryconstruction.com.