'Jurassic Park' redux

For nearly three years, America's best window to the Jurassic period has been closed. The Quarry Visitor Center at Dinosaur National Monument was deemed unstable and dangerous, so the National Park Service ordered it closed.

Ever since, the numbers of visitors to the monument have plummeted, as have entrance-fee revenues. With the monument's key attraction unavailable to the public, the economies of eastern Utah and western Colorado have likewise suffered.

That's about to change, thanks to $13.1 million in stimulus money that will be used to construct a new Quarry Visitor Center. Depending on the weather, the project could open as soon as 2011. The project would be a shot in the arm in terms of construction jobs and enhanced tourism in the region. It's a win for both states.

This project was clearly a priority for the Department of Interior. It will receive far more money than projects at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which received $5.5 million; the Ellis Island Baggage and Dormitory, at $8.8 million; and $9 million to replace a wastewater treatment plant at Yellowstone National Park.

It probably didn't hurt that the Secretary of the Department of Interior is former Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado. He is familiar with the unsafe condition of the visitors center and understands the importance of the national monument to the rural economies of Utah and neighboring Colorado.

Plans envision demolishing a large portion of the visitors center and creating a shelter and interpretive area at the fossil wall. A new visitors center, which would include some administrative offices, would be constructed about a half-mile from the existing structure, according to Dinosaur National Monument's Web site.

The existing visitors center was closed in 2006, after monitoring detected substantial structural and life-safety issues. However, the building, which was built in 1957 on what engineers would later discover was unstable soil, started to crumble the following year.

Replacement of the structure has been a long time coming. Thanks to the stimulus package, visitors to the Dinosaur National Monument will once again have the best views of the original "Jurassic park."