It has been a tough week for Drumheller’s iconic dinosaurs as three have been damaged.
Last weekend the dinosaur in front of the Shopper Drug Mart had to be removed after it was damaged, and then the dinosaur wearing a safety vest at the Westview Co-op has been toppled.
On Wednesday evening, August 29, the dinosaur in front of the Post Office was smashed by the driver of a campervan.
The Mail has since learned the driver of the van has been charged with making an unsafe left turn. Corporal Gerald Sherk explains the driver was eastbound on Railway Avenue when the van turned in front of an oncoming vehicle and was hit on the side. The van spun on to the sidewalk taking out a fire hydrant and the dinosaur.
“We are just very lucky there was no one hurt in the accident. There is a bench there as well and someone could have been seriously hurt with the number of tourists that take pictures with the dinosaur. Thankfully there was no one around,” said Sherk.
Courtney Bell is the vice president of the DinoArts Association, a group that has a mandate to take care of the dinosaurs that are owned by the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce. She notes that the dinosaur at the Co-op is not under their umbrella. The overall loss, however, is disheartening.
‘It is quite costly to replace them if you are looking at the same as what was there. The quotes are very high,” she said. “We are looking at the possibility of preserving one of the ceratopsian looking one that is still in pretty good shape. We are trying to figure out if there is a way to preserve them or a way to get a new one made in the same fashion as one of the old ones.”
Many of the concrete dinosaurs created by Tig Seland and Murray Olsen are decades old, and while they have stood the test of time, they are starting to decay.
“We have noticed lots of them right now are needing a lot of repairs or are beyond the point of repairing because the outside of them are getting so weak and brittle that it cannot support the inside,” she said.
Bell explains the chamber of commerce owns many of the dinosaurs and they are insured. The last two that were smashed, the chamber was able to make a claim.
DinoArts is working toward new projects and possibly exploring the idea of preserving one of the older ones, but with that, there are pretty hefty costs,” she said.
Those interested in learning more about DinoArts or getting involved can get more information from their Facebook page. The group has a fundraiser, the second Ultimate Pie Championship, at the October 5 Dragons home game.
