College of the Ozarks is considering buying the historic Old Matt’s Cabin and the rights to the “Shepherd of the Hills” play after the Branson attraction closed.
The owners of the attraction that also included a lookout tower and zip line
announced May 6 it would not return for its 2017 season that was scheduled to start May 27. Various media outlets later reported Shepherd of the Hills was closing due to a bank foreclosing on the property.
C of O spokeswoman Valorie Coleman said this morning the Point Lookout school is interested in preserving the play and the cabin, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
“There’s a certain timing to things where you have to be aware and move when the time is right. That’s where I think they’ve got this process going,” Coleman said of C of O President Jerry Davis and the school’s legal team, who are in early talks about the potential purchase. “We don’t want to miss an opportunity.”
No timeline currently is in place, and details are scarce, but Coleman said a purchase could mean a potential relocation of Old Matt’s Cabin, which was built in the mid-1880s.
Coleman said purchasing the cabin and show rights would complement existing C of O offerings, including its Ralph Foster Museum and patriotic plays put on by students.
In
summer 2014, the “Shepherd of the Hills’ show returned after closing in October 2013. Sharena Naugher, the daughter of show co-owner Gary Snadon, was among organizers who brought it back.
The outdoor drama is based on the book of the same name written by Harold Bell Wright and published in 1907. Wright's visit to the Branson area became the basis for the novel, which according to Springfield Business Journal archives, was the first book in the United States to sell more than 1 million copies.
