Dinosaur National Monument looks to a new era

Vernal (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE) » There was a time when hordes of visitors -- up to a half million a year -- explored the lost world of the stegosaurus, allosaurus and diplodocus at Dinosaur National Monument.

Call it the Jurassic Park Period, circa 1993 to '97.

That's when Steven Spielberg's blockbuster thriller and the first of two sequels lured millions to theaters and an average of 485,000 a year to the eastern Utah monument's main attraction: the Quarry Visitor Center.

But, in 1998, the guest count started a slow decline that accelerated in 2006, when the Park Service had to shut down and condemn the unstable building. Last year, barely 200,000 people visited the monument.

Now, a shot of federal stimulus funding is reviving hopes of reversing that descent. Call it a Jurassic spark -- one that starts with a new Quarry Center.

The current building, constructed in 1957 on shifting soil, has torqued and squeezed so hard it could pop the old entryway's dome right off, explains Wayne Prokopetz, chief of the monument's resource and research management.

"A lot of energy is being stored in the building," he says during a rare tour through the structure. "Eventually, it will release."

A different type of release -- $13.1 million in stimulus money -- means the National Park Service could break ground next spring for a new Quarry Center with a permanent visitor building down the hill.

Original Article