A baby dinosaur made its way from Atlanta, Georgia, to Main Street last month, but no need to worry, it’s made of clay.
Standing about 12 inches tall, Luxi, a juvenile Ornithomimosaur sculpture handcrafted from resin and epoxy clay, is now on display at the Main Street Columbus Office. The $8,000 piece, created and donated by Georgia artist Rick Spears, will be raffled off to raise funds for the planned “Jack” Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park in East Columbus.
Tickets are $5 each.
Sponsored by Main Street Columbus, the raffle marks the first local fundraising effort for the fossil park, which is planned to sit in the southeast corner of Propst Park along the Luxapalila Creek where Ornithomimosaur toe bones and other land-dwelling dinosaur and marine reptile fossils have been discovered.
“We are pleased to coordinate this fundraiser, as the fossil park plays an important role in education, conversation and community engagement,” Barbara Bigelow, executive director for Main Street Columbus, told The Dispatch on Tuesday. “Main Street Columbus also recognizes that the fossil park will attract not only local residents but visitors from outside the area, bringing more people downtown and providing a positive boost to our local economy.”
Tuesday marked the start of the raffle with about $75 raised by early afternoon. The raffle will run through Feb. 27, with a winner to be announced at the Columbus City Council meeting March 3.
“It’s looking good,” Susan Wilder, the city’s grant administrator and a member of the fossil park development team, told The Dispatch. “… My initial goal was to sell 2,000 tickets to raise $10,000. I hope we sell more than that, but we’ll take what we get.”
Wilder said the development team’s vision for the park includes dinosaur statues, signage and brochures, an educational pavilion, a Cretaceous walking trail featuring a geological timeline, a dinosaur- and shark-themed playground and a kayak and canoe ramp to allow fossil hunters to travel up and down the creek to fossil deposits.
Those plans come with a near $1 million price tag.
“We’ve got some big dreams for the fossil park, but we want to also get it opened, even if it has to be a soft opening to begin with,” Wilder said. “The signage and publications will be the first priority. … That will give us a good soft opening, and we can work on the bigger things as we go along.”
A soft opening, which would include the installation of signage and the distribution of educational pamphlets and brochures, is expected to cost between $100,000 and $150,000. Wilder said those materials would explain what fossils can be found at the site, how to search for them properly and how to prepare for water levels and weather conditions.
Wilder said she hopes to see a soft opening accomplished this year, and a full completion of the park within the next two years.
“It’s slow going, but we’re getting there,” she said. “We’re certainly not going to give up.”
A few thousand dollars have already been set aside for the project, and Wilder said fundraising efforts will continue beyond the raffle. Future plans include reaching out to local businesses and philanthropists for financial support.
“We’ll take what we can get and do what we can as we go along, but my hope is that once other people who are able to contribute money see that we’re raising money … then more and more will come forward to help,” she said.
Despite no structures at the site so far, Wilder said interest in the area has already begun to grow.
“We’ve gotten requests from the Mississippi Gem and Mineral Society about wanting to bring a group of people by,” she said. “I’ve had interest and a discussion with (a) homeschool group … wanting to bring the children down there. So there is interest. I ride by there some, and I don’t see a lot of people down there, but that will change as we go along.”
Wilder said the public is welcome to visit the site now, though she encourages visitors to research proper fossil-hunting tools to avoid damaging the area.
“We don’t want them coming with big shovels and stuff,” she said. “Most people who are experienced in fossil hunting will know that’s not the kind of tool they need, but they can go down there.”
Raffle tickets can be purchased with cash or check at Main Street Columbus, the Columbus Arts Council, Friendly City Books, Munson and Brothers or The Southern Exchange. Business owners interested in offering raffle tickets at their locations can contact Main Street Columbus at (662) 328-6305.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
