Visitor center construction at Dinosaur National Monument to start next month

UINTAH COUNTY — Construction on a new visitor's center at Dinosaur National Monument will begin in March and could open as early as the summer of 2011.

The $13.1 million project will focus on protecting and providing access to the quarry wall, which features 1,500 dinosaur fossils.

In 2002, the Quarry Visitor Center was declared a National Historic Landmark. However, the facility closed in July 2006 due to problems that included expansive clays that caused the building's structure to deteriorate.

The project includes demolition and replacement of the condemned portions of the old Quarry Visitor Center. Construction could last between 12 and 18 months.

The exhibit hall that protects and provides public access to the 1,500 dinosaur fossils will be rehabilitated. The remainder of the building will be demolished, and the visitor's center functions will be relocated to a new building approximately one-half mile away.

The lower shuttle staging area is to be remodeled, enclosed and expanded. The existing facility is composed of several detached masonry structures connected by an open-air, space-frame, roof structure.

There is currently a temporary visitor's center near the Quarry Visitor Center that contains fossils and exhibits.

For more information, go to: www.nps.gov/dino/why-is-the-quarry-visitor-center-closed.htm.