Ozark Natural Science Center will suspend programs in May, after nearly 20 years of offering an overnight science camp for thousands of fifth-graders.

“The expenses of the program have continued to exceed the revenue generated by the program,” said Jenny Garrett, president of board of directors for the nonprofit organization, based in Madison County. “The board of directors at this time is evaluating future plans for the facility.”

The suspension will affect residential and environmental programs and a summer camp, she said.

The center’s campus encompasses 500 acres of Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission land in the Bear Hollow Natural Area, about three miles east of Arkansas 23 between Eureka Springs and Huntsville.

Garrett would not comment on the organization’s fundraisers, which include the annual Call of the Wild event, or sponsorships.

Interim Executive Director Jenny Harmon said the organization notified many participating schools, including those in Northwest Arkansas, of its plans Monday by letter. More letters will go this week to schools in Little Rock and Oklahoma.

The organization intends to issue more information about the suspension in a news release, she said.

“It is a decision we have been working on for several months,” Harmon said.

The central campus includes three lodges, an education building, guest housing, faculty housing, the Stewart Springfield Memorial Outdoor Classroom, an observation deck and almost eight miles of maintained hiking trails.

A staff of 12 employees in full-time and part-time positions work in the organization’s science center, she said.

The center began offering a two-week summer camp for schoolchildren in 1992 as part of the Arkansas Enrichment for the Gifted in Summer program of the Arkansas Department of Education, according to the organization’s website.

By 1994, the nonprofit completed construction on the Ewing Centre, which houses administrative offices and a kitchen and dining hall. That same year, the organization started a residential school-based program for 700 fifth-graders from Bentonville and Rogers.

The school-based program has since accommodated several thousand fifth-graders from Northwest and central Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma.

David Thrasher, also a board member, said his love of the outdoors prompted him to support the center because of its work in providing outdoor-education programs.

The financial issues have been building up over manyyears, he said.

“The center’s been absolutely wonderful,” Thrasher said. “It’s a shame that we didn’t find funding sources for it.”

Rogers resident Rachel Osborn Cox, now 28, still remembers spending a couple of days at the center as a fifthgrader in the early 1990s. The experience included writing a nature journal, going on a nature hike and activities to identify leaves, insects and animal tracks.

Campers shared the experience of learning the secret of Life Saver wintergreen mints, she said. At night, they spark when broken.

“It’s been a staple in our community that has allowed kids opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise,” she said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/26/2013