Existing comment:
The visitor center itself preserves the dinosaur quarry which you can see on the right side of the building. A sign on the building describes it as such: "This building has won nationwide recognition for its style and set a new style standard for the National Park Service. Today it is on the National Register of Historic Structures.
"From the Great Depression to the 1950's, the dinosaur quarry was housed in a corrugated metal shed. In the mid-1950's, the National Park Service embarked on a project to upgrade park facilities to meet increasing visitation.
"The architect designed this building to enclose the fossil-bearing cliff and blend with the environment. The soaring 'butterfly' roof was to blend with the tilted formations, open glass areas took advantage of natural light and the surrounding vistas. The upper gallery walkway brought visitors close to the cliff and provided a dramatic, sweeping view of the dinosaur fossils.
"While debate surges around dinosaurs the structure encloses, so too it swirls around the building. It was built on expansive soils before construction techniques could adequately compensate for surface and subsurface movement." |