Someone affiliated with Disney is assiting with a Dino Land Park in East Montgomery County - that's North West of Houston.
11/09/2006
Dinosaur park planned for East Montgomery County
By MELECIO C. FRANCO
( Community News )
This conceptual drawing of the Dinosaur City exhibit hall shows possibilities for the facility that include reconstructed dinosaur skeletons and robotic, life-sized, animated models.
East Montgomery County has been selected as the site for the largest dinosaur park in the world.
Frank McCrady, president and CEO of the East Montgomery County Improvement District, announced on Oct. 31 that Dinosaur City, a $50 million educational park and live-animal facility, will be built in New Caney by 2010.
The facility will feature a 110,000-square-foot exhibit hall and dinosaur display, an IMAX theater, a water recreation park, hotel and convention center. Leading theme park designers, one of Germany's leading zoo directors, robotics and special effects experts are all involved in the planning for the facility. "It's going to be a nice project," said McCrady. "It can truly define our area in the future as far as travel and tourism."
The park is expected to attract more than a million visitors each year.
The facility is the concept of the dinosaur expert known as "Dino" Don Lessem, an author of 47 books on dinosaurs and advisor to Universal Studios' Jurassic Park, Walt Disney Company and Animal Kingdom dinosaur attractions.
"It will have the largest dinosaur educational facility in the world," said Lessem. "I dug up the biggest dinosaurs and they need a place to live."
Construction of the facility will be a five-year project, according to McCrady. The first phase is a $200,000 site study paid for by the improvement district to analyze the property, which is located north of Caney Creek on the west side of U.S. Highway 59 North.
"We'll partner with the state for additional financial needs," said McCrady. "It's a regional attraction not just a state attraction. A lot of people will come from out of state. It's a win for our area and a win for Texas, as well."
The park is expected to create 500 to 1,000 jobs, according to McCrady.
New Caney beat Dallas as the final location for the facility, according to Lessem.
"I liked the look of the community," he said. "The land was completely undeveloped. We want to celebrate nature. This is not a theme park. This is something that hasn't been done before. We want to keep it as pristine as we can."
Lessem wants the facility to have allied programs with the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Houston Zoo and have mobile exhibits. Live exotic animals will also be included at the park. Other projects at the facility will include educational outreach tours and field trips.
Lessem also hopes to create a university affiliation with one of the Texas universities and create a nonprofit foundation to help generate revenue to fund dinosaur research.
"We want to steer a bit of revenue towards education," he said.
Lessem explained that the dinosaur park is one way to get children interested in science.
"You can teach them all about science when they are interested in dinosaurs," he said.
mfranco@hcnonline.com