Dinosaur park staff harried

Soon after the staff moved out of the deteriorating visitors center at Dinosaur National Monument, telephones in their temporary home went on the blink.

National Park Service employees working from offices set up in one of the monument's housing units found they could call out but nobody could call in.

Sometimes, but not always, they can be reached by e-mail.

"It changes from day to day," said Mary Risser, the monument's superintendent. "It's really been a nightmare."

That pretty much sums up the year so far for the monument, which covers 210,000 acres on both sides of the Utah-Colorado border.

The quarry visitors center, on the Utah side, was the main contact point and the only place where tourists could see hundreds of dinosaur fossils. Not only is that site closed, but the visitors center at monument headquarters in Dinosaur, Colo., might also be facing closure because of budget problems. But that's not definite, Risser said.

In July, Park Service officials announced the quarry visitors center, nine miles north of Jensen, Uintah County, was condemned as unsafe. Since its construction in 1957, the center had been a big tourist draw for northeastern Utah.

One side of the center is built against a rock wall, allowing fascinated visitors to watch scientists working on fossils in situ. Studding the wall were 1,500 dinosaur bones dating back nearly 150 million years. The center also housed exhibits, a laboratory and a bookstore.

But almost as soon as the building was constructed, problems developed. It was built on unstable soil, which started to shift. The building began to show cracks. It eventually became too compromised for safety.

With its main attraction closed, the monument no longer charges admission, reducing its funds. Three employees who collected fees have been reassigned. The monument has not had to terminate any jobs.

"Because it's closed, nobody's in the building," Risser said during a telephone interview from Dinosaur, Colo. "We're continuing that monitoring program that first identified all the problems with the building. That should give us data that we're going to need" before deciding how to serve visitors in the future.

Next month, she will travel to Denver and make a presentation for the National Park Service regional director about possible rebuilding. Alternatives being mulled over include: