Class 11
February 7, 2010 – 1:29 pmA frosty day for class yesterday. The Urban Farmer Ron Berezan was our host for the day and his presentation covered xeriscaping, growing fruit on the prairies, plus edible perennials, mushrooms, water harvesting and sheet mulching. If you are gardening in Alberta visit his site for plant lists and information on sustainable and edible gardening. He also has a roster of workshops, travel opportunities and presentations scheduled for 2010.
So to quell the spring fever that Ron’s presentation was causing I hit the outdoors at lunch and took a wander to the reopened Prehistoric Park at the zoo.
Now the Calgary Zoo has a long history with prehistory. In 1936, 56 dinosaurs went on display at the island. Finnish sculptor John Kanerva designed the maquettes and managed the construction of the life-size models. The following year the Zoo’s Natural History Park opened. Dinny the Dinosaur was also completed that year. All hand built, full scale models based on the knowledge of the day. I think that’s an incredibly ambitious project for the time. Image below: Calgary Zoo archives 1936
About twenty years later (1959) Dinny the Dinosaur was adopted as the Zoo’s official mascot. Image below: Calgary Zoo archives 1959
There must be hundreds of Polaroids in Calgary photo albums of kids and families in front of Dinny. This 120-ton, 35 foot tall cement sculpture modelled after the Apatosaurus was massive and I remember it was always disappointing that you were not allowed to touch. Look at that tail – it was built for climbing.
Fast forward another 20ish years to 1983 and the opening the new Prehistoric Park at the zoo. I went to art college with a number of graduates who put in time building the rocks at the site. Quentin went on to build a career based on sculptured environments. And dino builders Brian and Mary Ann have built an international reputation for their sculpture. You can see their work at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, and other natural history museums in the US and Asia.
This image shows the new sculptures and fresh plantings in ’84. It was a weirdly barren site when it opened. Image below: Calgary Zoo archives 1984
Almost 30 years later the site is now a mature woodland forest with native shrubs and plants. And the paths are paved.
The reopened Prehistoric Park is featuring a traveling show called Dinosaurs Alive! It features animatronic dinosaurs that roar, snap and twitch. It’s here until the fall. There were a number of families at the new exhibit when I visited. The sounds of the day were a combination of Jurassic Park roar and rumble mixed with squealing and crying kids.
Dinny was made a Registered Historical Resource so declared in 1987. I’m not sure where he is in the park. I thought he had been demolished and just a memory, so I’m on the search for him next Saturday.