ATLANTA, Ga. — For a whole generation of Atlanta-area kids, a trip to Fernbank Museum of Natural History has meant one thing: coming face-to-face with dinosaurs.
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And this month, those prehistoric giants are celebrating a major milestone.
For 25 years, Fernbank’s enormous dinosaur casts have towered over visitors, sparking plenty of wide-eyed reactions, dinosaur roars and, perhaps, a few future paleontologists.
Fernbank estimates that about 10 million visitors have encountered the dinosaurs since they first arrived.
The dinosaurs may look like they walked straight out of prehistory, but bringing them to Atlanta took plenty of modern-day science — and a trip halfway around the world.
In 2001, Channel 2’s John Pruitt and a Channel 2 crew traveled to Argentina, where the fossils represented by the casts were discovered.
The enormous replicas were custom-created to match the scale of the ancient bones. They were made using casts and lightweight materials, including styrofoam, before being assembled and installed at Fernbank.
“It’s a very intricate scientific process,” Pruitt recalled. “Scaffolding has to be constructed. The bones have to be very carefully placed, because these are massive creations.”
The result has become one of Fernbank’s signature attractions and a lasting piece of Atlanta’s science scene.
Pruitt says that’s part of what makes the 25-year milestone so special.
“There’s no reason why it can’t go on for 50, 100 years more,” he said.
Fernbank President and CEO Jennifer Warner says the dinosaurs have done more than give families something impressive to photograph.
They’ve helped introduce generations of children to science.
“One statistic that I love is that 85% of scientists credit a museum visit with inspiring their career,” Warner said.
She hopes the dinosaurs continue to inspire that same sense of curiosity in today’s kids.
“I hope they walk away with more curiosity,” Warner said. “We want to create more curious citizens of the world.”
And judging by the kids walking through the museum, the dinosaurs are still doing their job.
One young visitor already has a dream career picked out: paleontologist.
Why?
Because he wants to discover a dinosaur “that looks like nothing nobody’s ever seen.”
For parents who grew up visiting Fernbank, the experience can feel a little like coming full circle.
Brittany Greco remembers visiting as a child for field trips and trips with her grandparents. Now, she gets to bring her own children.
“I love getting to share it with my kids,” she said. “It’s so special to get to see these things in person and see how larger than life these dinosaurs are.”
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