New fossil park and museum of Rowan University in New Jersey takes a journey back in time
A new fossil park and museum has been unearthed in South Jersey.
It will take you on a journey 66 million years back in time. A snapshot into the lost world of dinosaurs, with towering life-size models that ignite the imagination and bring the prehistoric species back to life.
"When you come to this museum you are going to see immersive exhibits, the likes of which the world has never seen," said Dr. Ken Lacovara, the founding executive director of the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University.
Located in Mantua Township, the $75 million facility is a dinosaur lover's paradise.
Forty feet below the museum sits a quarry where more than 100,000 fossils have been unearthed, from marine crocodiles to sea turtles. Visitors will be able to take part in their own dig and keep what they find.
"It's a legitimate discovery, they're seeing something that no human has ever seen before and knowing something no human has ever known before," Lacovara said.
Gov. Phil Murphy helped cut the ribbon outside the museum Thursday and said kids will soon learn the museum was built on land where dinosaurs once ruled.
"Our state's young learners will have a chance to see with their own eyes how the natural world that surrounds us is a direct link to our planet's earliest history," Murphy said.
"This is going to be the place everyone wants to come to," Jean Edelman said.
Jean and Ric Edelman, both Rowan alums, donated $25 million to help make the museum a reality. They said there is nothing like this anywhere else, and the fossil park will help put Gloucester County on the map.
"It's also going to represent a huge economic engine for the region bringing jobs and money into this environment that is going to be supportive for all the families that live here," Ric Edelman said.
The Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University officially opens March 29.
