PHILADELPHIA: Boy Scouts To Vacate Rent-Free Local Headquarters

After years of legal battles, Philadelphia's local Boy Scouts group has agreed to abandon the city-owned building they've occupied rent-free for 85 years.  The city has agreed to pay the Boy Scouts $825,000 for physical improvements they made to the facility.

The group's rent-free use of the building came under fire after the Boy Scouts of America barred gays from membership. The city unsuccessfully sought to have the chapter evicted for violation of Philadelphia's anti-discrimination policies. Ultimately, the Cradle of Liberty Council decided that the battle was becoming a distraction and it was in the best interests of the city's boys who they were trying to recruit to put an end to it, the group's scout executive, Tom Harrington, said. "If anything, this is good news that will help us renew our focus on serving those youth," Harrington said.

The 17,000-member Philadelphia Boy Scouts group attempted to ban anti-gay discrimination in 2003, but was ordered to rescind that ban by the national organization.