Concertgoers might discover something new the next time they see a show at Red Rocks.
Thanks to a large donation, The Friends of Dinosaur Ridge were able to purchase a building at the north entrance of Red Rocks Park and, by May or June 2014, it will open as the Dinosaur Ridge Discovery Center.
“We’re here forever now,” Joe Tempel, executive director of The Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, said.
The existing Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center at 16831 W. Alameda Parkway on the east side of the Dinosaur Ridge hogback will remain open, but the building is owned by Jefferson County.
The nonprofit was able to purchase the 4,000-square-foot building on an acre of property at 17681 W. Alameda Ave. thanks in large part to a $305,000 donation from The Harvey Family Foundation.
Hugh Harvey, who said he has enjoyed Dinosaur Ridge since first studying there in the 1970s as a School of Mines student, said it was easy to support the project.
About $60,000 is still needed to meet the total cost of the $520,000 project.
Erin LaCount, Dinosaur Ridge’s exhibits manager and program coordinator, said that while the existing visitor’s center focuses on the area’s environment and change over time, the discovery center will focus more on the animals. She said that the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is loaning them a 12-foot model of a crocodile for an exhibit about the crocodile tracks found in the area.
“They were the main predator at the time where the tracks were being laid down about a hundred million years ago,” she said. “We didn’t have big meat-eating dinosaurs, we had crocodiles.”
Once the center is fully renovated, FODR hopes to use its new space to add programming, such as lectures and worshops, and possibly Jeep tours of the area.
Find more information at dino . Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com
