The Science Museum of Minnesota recently announced a $7 million reduction to its operating budget had forced 43 layoffs, including the discontinuation of an entire department dedicated to program evaluation and another dedicated to equity, access and community outreach.

Add another casualty to that list: summer camps.

Dozens of popular day camps have been a draw for members, who received first crack at sign-ups for week-long, half-day and full-day sessions targeted to kids in different age levels, from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Located on Kellogg Boulevard in downtown St. Paul, the Science Museum is offering 42 distinct camps this summer, ranging in topic from cooking and chemistry to carpentry, coding and marine biology and dinosaur artifacts. Most filled up months ago.“Get ready to think like a chemist while experimenting with gassy reactions, exploring the properties of dry ice, and manipulating some messy mixtures and silly solutions,” reads the description to a camp titled “Reaction Lab.”

Those summer camps will be discontinued next year, confirmed Emma Filar, senior director of communications for the museum, on Friday. The Omni Theater will continue its regular schedule, she said.

Restructuring, cuts

Museum officials announced this week that institution’s budget has been buffeted by a drop in visitors, forcing them to rely heavily on their endowment to make ends meet. Four general divisions will be restructured into three.

“Museum Infrastructure” will span human resources, accounting, finance and information technology; “Science, Education and Equity” will include exhibit development and STEM education; and “mission advancement” will include marketing, membership and visitor services, as well as exhibit sales to other museums.

While the museum has eliminated a four-person department related to equity and community outreach, Filar noted those tasks will remain interwoven “into everything that we do,” and are explicitly highlighted in the mission of the new “Science, Education and Equity” division.

“We’ll still be focusing on that as an institution,” Filar said.