Drumheller’s beloved dinosaur is undergoing some maintenance this week, as Palcoprep works to clean out the mouth of the World’s Largest Dinosaur and fix some wrecked exhibits in its tall stairwell.
Over the years, visitors have also ripped off the bone casts lining the walls of the towering stairwell.
Palcoprep, a local company specializing in fossil cast creation, took on the job of fixing up the valley’s most iconic attraction.
“Returning visitors will definitely see a difference,” said Palcoprep’s Frank Hadfield, adding a new exhibit, a dinosaur dig pit, is being installed halfway up the stairs.
“The mouth of the dinosaur will be more pleasing to the eye.”
Palcoprep is planning on addressing a new paint job in the spring, with Hadfield explaining the fiberglass on the steel building is subject to cracking in high winds, comparing it to cracks on a hard-boiled egg.
“It’s hard to believe she’s 10 years old already,” Hadfield says, “but there are cracks everywhere.”
All you can do is keep up with work before it gets out of hand, Hadfield says. “It’s inevitable in a structure of this size.”
The World’s Largest Dinosaur will be closed until next Friday as she undergoes the fix-up.
World’s Largest Dinosaur employee Debbie Schinnour says a complete re-painting of the dinosaur will be completed in the coming years.