On December 1, 2025, the Port of Los Angeles told Greater Los Angeles Scouting that they must leave the Cabrillo Beach Youth Center by December 31. This 12-acre waterfront site has hosted Scouts for almost 80 years, but it will soon become a training center for Olympic sailing teams preparing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

For volunteer Scout leaders nationwide, this eviction raises urgent questions about camp access, program continuity, and what happens when youth organizations lose key facilities to major civic projects. The timeline is particularly striking: Scouters have just 30 days to relocate decades of programming.​

The $3.6 Million Investment

During the 1980s, Greater Los Angeles Scouting raised more than $3.6 million to build the Cabrillo Beach Youth Center, with major support from filmmaker Steven Spielberg. The council added an Olympic-sized pool, an amphitheater, dorms, an archery range, and a crafts center on 12 acres of land owned by the Port.

The Scouts did not rent the facility; they built it using donations and community support over many years. Now, the Port is taking it back under the lease agreement, which means the Scouts must give up the property to a new nonprofit, Pathway to Podium LLC, for Olympic sailing training.

All the popcorn sales and Friends of Scouting fundraisers that helped raise that $3.6 million reflect volunteer work that cannot be recovered.

Over a Decade of Month-to-Month Uncertainty

The Greater Los Angeles Council has been operating without a long-term lease since its original 30-year agreement, signed in 1982, ended. For over ten years, Scout leaders have run programs for more than 17,000 youth each year under a month-to-month deal, always aware that the Port could end it with only 30 days’ notice.

Now, that risk has become real. The December 31, 2025 deadline comes during the holidays, giving unit leaders very little time to reschedule winter and spring events.

Immediate Impact on Scouting Programs

This eviction brings real challenges for volunteer leaders who manage Scout units throughout Greater Los Angeles:

Programs must move. Blue & Gold banquets, Pinewood Derbies, and waterfront training events planned for early 2026 now need new locations right away.

Loss of waterfront access. Cabrillo Beach was one of the few affordable and easy-to-reach places in Greater Los Angeles where Scouts could earn Swimming and Lifesaving merit badges in an Olympic-sized pool. Other options often cost more or are far away.

Capacity will be strained. With this facility closed, the 17,000 youth it served last year will need to use other council camps, making it harder to get reservations.

Youth Programs vs. Olympic Sailing

The Port and Pathway to Podium say that Olympic sailing training will help “the broader community” and offer “access for as many groups as possible.” Still, volunteer leaders point out that there is a big difference between a long-running youth program serving local neighborhoods since 1946 and a training center focused on elite athletes.

The Olympics are meant to inspire young people, but this choice forces out a youth group to make room for the Games. Longtime staff, such as lifeguard Benjie Spolarich, said they feel “overlooked” and “baffled” by what happened.

Post-2028: No Written Guarantees

According to the Long Beach Post News, the Port of Los Angeles is ending the Scouting lease at Cabrillo Beach so the site can become a training facility for sailing teams ahead of the 2028 Olympics. The future of the youth center after the Games remains uncertain.

Even after investing $3.6 million and spending more than a decade as month-to-month tenants, volunteer leaders are doubtful about their chances of coming back.

The Future of Scout Camps on Public Land

For almost 80 years, Scouts have cared for and improved Cabrillo Beach, helping generations of young people on the Los Angeles waterfront. Thanks to steady volunteer work and community support, the facility became a landmark for youth development.

With the December 31 deadline coming up, volunteer leaders are busy moving programs and wondering if their council will get access to the site again after 2028. What happens next could affect how youth groups work with public land across the country.