The Dinosaur National Monument Quarry Visitor Center remains closed due to safety concerns, preventing paleontologists and other interested individuals from seeing one of the United State's largest and best quarry of dinosaur bones from the Jurassic period.
Around 1,500 dinosaur bones are at the site, along with reconstructions of a juvenile allosaurus and a sauropod.
The National Park Service explains, "The Quarry Visitor Center has experienced continuing problems with foundation movement since its construction on expansive soils in 1957. The building was closed in July 2006 due to the serious life and safety hazards caused by this movement. The National Park Service (NPS) is working to re-open the famous cliff face of dinosaur bones as quickly as possible."
Even in this lousy economy, a glimmer of hope surfaced this week. The project is said to be receiving more than $13 million in federal stimulus funds. Bids are now being sought for the rebuild, which is predicted to finish in 2011.
The Dinosaur National Monument is located along the border of Utah and Colorado and is 150 miles east of Salt Lake City.
It's still worth the road trip.
"There is a Temporary Visitor Center near the Quarry Visitor Center that contains real fossils and exhibits," according to the NPS. "You can take the Fossil Discovery Hike (approx. 1.5 miles round trip) and see a variety of fossils still embedded in rock."Web surfers can also visit the monument's Dinosaur Virtual Museum.
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