By
Michelle P on April 12th, 2009
Word is spreading amongst the local community about the new paleo building and its groundbreaking events. Here’s a link to the Rapid City Journal article from the groundbreaking festivities, including public feedback. I’m very encouraged by the positive response to the new building. It’s nice to know that there’s a crowd out there that can’t wait to have a better view of what goes on in the labs, and get up close to some ‘real’ paleontology. Given the current economic situation, it’s also great to see people recognizing the good in renewing infrastructure and construction in the area.
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/04/09/news/local/doc49da881491efe768939285.txt
By
Heidi on April 9th, 2009
On a beautiful Spring day an event 30 years in the making finally occured. The Groundbreaking for the new Paleontology Center was held on Tuesday, April 7. The President of the School of Mines, Robert Wharton, kicked off the ceremony with an excellent speech and then introduced the Governor of South Dakota, Michael Rounds. Gov. Rounds then spoke for a few moments and then a Board of Regents representative also spoke a few words. Then many people who were instrumental in the buildings design were given shovels and the groundbreaking commenced. Afterwards we all went inside to the King Center and socialized over refreshments. Many came for the event including National Park Representatives, the Corps of Engineers, and a large number of students, faculty, and staff. Many people have worked tirelessly for many years to have this building constructed, including Dr. James Martin and Dr. James Fox. The building is so desperately needed because we are in dire need of space to properly house the collections and laboratories. This gives a chance to properly house the collection of over 300,000 fossil and mineral specimens according to Federal Repositories standards. It will also have new state of the art labs for preparation and molding and casting. There will be space for offices, archives, and maps. Many of us are extremely excited about this new opportunity for our program to grow. Below is an image of what the building will look like when complete.
The Final Product
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