Indian Rock Nature Preserve

  Capital Campaign Component

 ·        Land Acquisition         $350,000

 ·        Renovations                 $120,000

 ·    Education Building     $2,000,000

                Total                                   $2,470,000                

Educational Program Development

Over the course of 20 years the Indian Rock Nature Preserve has been continually rising to the needs and demands of the area. It has grown tremendously. Educational services began in 1980 with the development of two major program areas, Summer Camp and Farm Life Experiences. In 1982, two new program areas one in Colonial Cooking and one in Nature Study were added. In 1986, a new program in Native American Studies was added followed shortly by the addition of Astronomy programs.

As demand for program services increased, facility resources were expanded to accommodate the thousands of school students visiting on field trips. In 1986, group facilities expanded with the construction of the Orchard House. Program levels have grown 10 fold since then. In 1995, a new storage barn was added to enable the main barn to be used more for program purposes and in 1996, a new poultry barn was constructed. The success of the Native American programs resulted in a Native American Village being started in 1996 that could better accommodate the growing number of students.

In the past 5 years Summer Camp growth has increased from an average of 46 to 110 campers per week. Our successes have brought us again to our building capacity. In order to provide for the future growth and the stability of our current programs we need to move ahead with several building expansion projects, they are: an addition to the Orchard House (completed in 2000), a new activity building, and a new isolation barn.

Our vision for the future is to continue our success through the implementation of many new and exciting program areas. New areas on the horizon will focus on balancing the seasonal nature of programming by building a strong winter program that will match other seasonal levels; and expanding our scope of program services to reach out to secondary school students, businesses and adults. Below are our future project concept areas.

Aquatic Ecology & Terrestrial Ecology                   Agricultural Workshop Center

Teacher Training Workshops                                 Public Environmental Awareness Days

Business Environments                                           Resident Weekend Programs  

After School Classes

Indian Rock Educational Facilities Plan

The first step is to undertake renovations that will enhance our ability to serve a greater level of children.  After renovations, efforts will be undertaken to add to the educational resource spaces available for programs through the addition of two agricultural workshop spaces to the Orchard House facility (completed in 2000).  Then, the addition of the new education building will follow.  The new education building, informally known as the “Bird Building” because of its shape, will provide the additional educational space necessary to implement many new programs that will serve the increasing number of students each year. 

Naming Opportunities