The Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs (yes, it’s a thing) have been successful in raising almost £25,000 towards the cost of restoring one of Crystal Palace Park’s Grade I-listed dinosaur models.
Jaw replacement: the Megalosaurus fund will allow work to get underway
The Megalosaurus sculpture is about 170 years old and was positioned in the park when the Crystal Palace was first transferred to south London after the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1851.
In common with many of the other dinosaur models in and around the park’s lakes, it is increasingly fragile because of its age, and earlier this year it was the victim of vandalism which broke away part of its jaw.
Repair work can now get underway, thanks to a grant of £19,870 from the Culture Recovery Fund, with the Friends group pitching in with a further £3,500.
“We’re grateful to Historic England, Bromley Council, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and all of our Friends for helping us to conserve these stupendous beasts for future generations,” said Ellinor Michel of the Friends group.
Bromley Council, which is responsible for the upkeep of the park which borders Croydon, will provide any further funding required.
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Congratulations to the Friends for raising this impressive amount.
I was just wondering about designing “a dinosaur for our times”…………….
the thought process is this…….
Fact : the existing dinosuars are concrete, which, after 170 years, is cracking up………….
Q: what material would last longer ?……….. A: plastic !
Q: what does the world have a lot of?….. A: small bits of plastic waste, like toys
Idea 1: Obtain hundreds of thousands of waste items such as discarded plastic dinosaur toys
Idea 2: Get scientists to advise on a resin matrix that can embed the plastic items
Idea 3 : Make big dinosaur moulds and cast mix of resin and embedded plastic items. Leave to cure for 6 months–remove moulds
Leave for 10,000 years
Come back and see if the plastic dinosaurs are still in residence