The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County

White Oak Conference Center for sale

WHITE OAK – The sprawling White Oak Conference Center is on the block after closing its doors Tuesday.

“In anticipation of selling it, we will keep a skeleton crew on site to be sure the grounds and facilities stay in good shape,” Chief Administrative Officer Scott Lee said last week.

“We have three interested parties right now,” Lee said. “But we’re not really negotiating yet. We’re still in the due diligence phase. We’re answering questions like, ‘What are the costs to keep up a camp like this?’ We’re still very much in the beginning stages of the sales process.”

The decision to sell was made by the conference, Lee said.

“Because of COVID-19, we had to shut down for the summer. Typically, summer is our busiest time. It’s the part of the year that helps us meet our expenses the rest of the year when it’s not so busy,” he said.

The 50-year old facility has 212 acres of developed land and over 100,000 square feet of enclosed space. The conference recently sold the upper 600+ acres for hunting.

Scott said the conference hopes that whoever buys the property will use it for ministry services.

“That’s what we have invested so many years in here. It’s a great facility,” he said.

“We want to assure the neighborhood around us that we aren’t going to go off and let the weeds grow up,” he said. “We’ll be taking care of it until the day it sells.”

Scott said the conference has not yet set a price on the center.