$73M NJ Fossil Park Will Shed Light On End Of Dinosaur Era

MANTUA TOWNSHIP, NJ — It’s not Jurassic Park, but it’s the next best thing. Rowan University broke ground on a $73 million Fossil Park Museum over the weekend, university officials announced.

The 65-acre Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park Museum will be home to 66-million-year-old marine and terrestrial fossils that record the end of the dinosaurs.

The 44,000 square foot park was inspired by the deep-time perspective that the fossil record offers, and will open in May 2023.

"We are building a museum like no other, on a fossil site of global importance that will connect visitors to the ancient past, to the thrill of discovery and to Rowan University," Dr. Kenneth Lacovara said before the groundbreaking.

Lacovara is the founding dean of the School of Earth & Environment and director of the Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park. He is leading the research at the site, which Rowan purchased from the Inversand Company in 2015.

The site is named after alumni Jean and Ric Edelman, which donated $25 million to the university after it purchased the park. This money helped pay for a third of the park, officials said.

Jean and her husband Ric wanted to see a unique research ecosystem that supports scientific, undergraduate and “citizen science” opportunities. And that’s what happened.

Lacovara said guests will be astounded from the moment they enter the museum, when they see “skeletal reconstructions of creatures that existed right here, 66 million years ago.”

Exhibits will include:

• A recreated Dryptosaurus, the first discovered tyrannosaur, which was found just a mile from the Fossil Park site in 1866;
• A 53-foot mosasaur, like one discovered at the site, “that swam through the seas, right where you are sitting”;
• World-renowned paleo sculptor Gary Staab created dozens of marine recreations that will be on display in the Hall of Cretaceous Seas;
• The Hall of Extinction & Hope will enable visitors to experience the demise of the dinosaurs, to immerse themselves in knowledge about the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises, and to explore a network of resources to take action about them;
• “Discovery Forest” will feature hands-on learning stations;
• “Critter Cove” will contain sea and land animals with genetic connections to the site during the Late Cretaceous era;
• Recreations of giant sea turtles and crocodiles;
• The Fossil Research Workshop;
• A virtual reality chamber;
• A café;
• A museum store;
• A paleo-themed playground; and
• Nature trails.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the park hosted thousands of visitors per year, from school kids on bus trips to business people and community leaders, all of whom are drawn to the prospect of finding genuine, Late Cretaceous-era, fossils.

“For three humble kids from (the former) Glassboro State College, it’s very hard to believe that, here we are, in this amazing spot with all of you, creating this amazing museum that’s going to be here for generations,” Jean Edelman said, referring to herself, her husband and Lacovara.

“The look back into the distant past is not merely for intellectual curiosity; it’s to remind us of who we are, where we have the potential to go and who we have the potential to become,” Ric Edelman said.

So far, just a few hundred square yards of the 65-acre site have been fully processed, officials said. However, they have yielded more than 50,000 cataloged marine and terrestrial fossils, from reptilian mosasaurs to sea turtles, sharks, boney fish, coral and clams.

An economic impact study conducted ahead of the museum’s construction predicted that an estimated 200,000 or more fossil hunters will visit the park and museum each year, producing more than $300 million in economic activity over a 10-year period.

“The impact this project will have on our region cannot be overstated,” Rowan University President Ali A. Houshmand said. “From educational and research opportunities to jobs and tourism, every dollar spent developing the fossil park and museum will return to the community many times over.”

Featuring geothermal, water-source heating and cooling systems and a photovoltaic solar field, the museum will be New Jersey’s largest public net-zero building, officials said. This means that 100 percent of the energy used by the museum will come from renewable on-site sources and/or green energy through New Jersey’s power grid. In addition, the surrounding grounds will restore plant and animal habitat and other landscape features.

The park also has something for the residents and volunteers who they say were crucial to the Fossil Park’s success and, ultimately, the forthcoming museum.

Community Dig Days each fall typically draw upwards of 2,000 fossil hunters and the park hosts a variety of programs, from private fossil digs to summer camps, throughout the year. The Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park is the only facility east of the Mississippi River that has an actively open quarry for public dig days.

They also thanked Mantua Township and Gloucester County officials and its development partners, including award-winning and world-renowned design teams at Ennead Architects (Design Architect), KSS Architects (Architect of Record), SEED Design/Yaki Miodovnik (Landscape Architect) and Gallagher & Associates (Experience Design).