Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum facts for kids
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| Established | September 3, 2015 |
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| Location | Wembley, Alberta |
| Type | Palaeontological |
| Architect | Teeple Architects |
| Owner | County of Grande Prairie |
The Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum is a cool dinosaur museum in Wembley, Alberta, Canada. It opened in 2015 and is named after a famous Canadian dinosaur expert, Philip J. Currie. The museum building is quite large, covering about 3,800 square meters (or 40,900 square feet).
Contents
Discovering Dinosaurs: The Pipestone Creek Bonebed
The museum is built close to an amazing place called the Pipestone Creek bonebed. A bonebed is like a giant graveyard for dinosaurs, where many fossils are found together. This bonebed is part of the Wapiti Formation, which holds fossils from the Late Cretaceous period. This was a time when dinosaurs like Pachyrhinosaurus roamed the Earth.
The Discovery of the Bonebed
A local school teacher named Al Lakusta found this incredible bonebed in 1974. He discovered bones from a horned dinosaur called Pachyrhinosaurus. Later, this specific type of Pachyrhinosaurus was named Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai in his honor. The Pipestone Creek bonebed is one of the richest fossil sites in the world. It has thousands of fossils! Because so many ancient animals were found here, the area became known as The River of Death.
What Kinds of Fossils Were Found?
Besides Pachyrhinosaurus, many other dinosaur fossils were found in this bonebed. These include plant-eating hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs) and fierce meat-eaters like tyrannosaurs. You can also find fossils of armored nodosaurs, swimming plesiosaurs, and flying pterosaurs.
Building the Museum
People wanted to show off the amazing dinosaur history of the area. So, in 2010, a group called the River of Death and Discovery Dinosaur Museum Society was formed. Their goal was to open a paleontology museum.
Choosing a New Name
In 2011, the society decided to change the museum's name. They chose Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum. This was because Dr. Philip J. Currie was a very famous and supportive paleontologist. Also, the old name, River of Death and Discovery Dinosaur Museum, sounded a bit scary!
Who Helped Fund the Museum?
Building the museum cost a lot of money, about $26 million (Canadian dollars) at first. Most of the money came from local governments and private donations. The County of Grande Prairie gave a lot of money and owns the museum building and its land. The City of Grande Prairie, the Municipal District of Greenview, and the Government of Alberta also helped a lot.
Designing the Building
The county and the museum society hired Teeple Architects to design the museum. The building is designed to be very energy-efficient. It was supposed to open in December 2012.
Celebrity Help and Opening Day
There were some delays in building and getting enough money. This caught the attention of Dan Aykroyd, a famous Canadian actor who loves dinosaurs. He organized a special event to help raise money. Many celebrities, including his wife Donna Dixon, and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, came to help.
The museum finally opened on September 3, 2015. A special ceremony was held later that month with Dan Aykroyd, Donna Dixon, Dr. Philip J. Currie, and Dr. Eva Kopplehus. To thank Dan Aykroyd for his help, the museum's theater was named the Aykroyd Family Theatre. This theater is the only one in Canada allowed to show films from the National Geographic Society.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has many amazing fossils on display. You can see real pachyrhinosaurus lakustai fossils, just like the ones found nearby. The museum is part of a bigger plan to make the town a great place for people who love dinosaurs. Many visitors also go to the Tumbler Ridge Museum in British Columbia. In its first eleven months, the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum welcomed over 100,000 visitors, which was more than they expected!
Awards and Recognition
The museum's building, designed by Teeple Architects, was recognized for its cool design. In 2014, Azure magazine named it one of the top projects to watch. When it opened in 2015, Conde Nast Traveler even called it one of the top new museum openings worldwide!
Images for kids
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Exhibits at the museum
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Albertaceratops nesmoi at the museum
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An Gorgosaurus libratus on display
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Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai and young Pachyrinosaurus on display
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Struthiomimus altus at the museum
See also
