March 25, 2005

Disarticulation Begins on Famous Fossils
"Combining two things children of all ages love - dinosaurs and construction"

Pittsburgh … For the first, and probably only time, visitors to Carnegie Museum of Natural History can see dinosaurs being disassembled in front of their eyes. The disarticulation process will take place during regular museum hours Tuesday - Friday beginning Tuesday, March 29 and is Free with museum admission.

The disarticulation process is part of the museum's Dinosaurs in Their Time expansion project and will actually begin on Monday, March 29 at 1 p.m., but the museum is closed to visitors on Mondays until July 11. The dinosaurs will be worked on in rotation with Allosaurus and Apatosaurus being the first to undergo their extreme makeover. Other dinosaurs to be deconstructed in public view include Diplodocus, Protoceratops and finally, Tyrannosaurus rex. Visitors will be able to watch the work being done through windows built in a safety wall.

Stegosaurus, the plated and spiked Sherman tank of the Jurassic Period, will stay on display throughout the construction process. In addition, Carnegie Museum's newest dinosaur discovery, the intriguingly bizarre, unnamed oviraptorosaur will also be on exhibit. Many of Carnegie Museum of Natural History's wall mounted dinosaurs will be removed from its exhibit matrix in PaleoLab. PaleoLab work will be done during regular museum hours, including weekends.

"We are combining two thing children of all ages enjoy - dinosaurs and construction," said Dr. Bill DeWalt, then-Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

To handle the disassembly, remounting and reinstallation of its dinosaurs, Carnegie Museum of Natural History has selected Phil Fraley and Phil Fraley Productions, Inc. of Hoboken, NJ. The skeletons will be dismantled in Dinosaur Hall, crated and shipped to Fraley's studios where they will be given their new look. A time-lapse camera will allow the monitoring of the progress in New Jersey through the museum's Web site.

Dinosaurs in Their Time is an expansion and renovation project that will create additional space for new and dynamic exhibitions. One of the first stages of this undertaking, the disassembly of the dinosaurs, will take place in public view during regular museum hours. Though the hall will be undergoing dramatic transformations and sections will be inaccessible, it will not be closing. There will always be something stirring to see, and viewing stations will provide the unforgettable opportunity to witness history in the making.

Dinosaur Hall's dramatic transformation into Dinosaurs in Their Time will be completed in 2008. The museum will continue to operate during regular hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and Mondays between July 4 and Labor Day, President's Day and the Monday between Christmas and New Year's from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 412.622.3131 or visit www.carnegiemnh.org.

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