Meet Ally, SLC Airport’s first-ever dinosaur – @theU

What’s more exciting than a shortcut to the B gates? A Allosaurus at the airport!

On Tuesday, October 22, Salt Lake City International Airport and the Natural History Museum of Utah unveiled the airport’s first dinosaur – Ally, a 30-foot-long, 15-foot-tall skeleton Allosaurus fragilis.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be here today to unveil a project 150 million years in the making,” NHMU Executive Director Jason Cryan said to the crowd gathered to welcome the completed Hall B celebrate. “Turn around as we reveal Utah’s state fossil like it’s never been seen before!”

The Jurassic Park theme blared from the speakers, the airport gathering turned and gasped as the curtain fell to reveal Ally in all her glory.

From the Late Jurassic to Concourse B

The museum has wanted a dinosaur at the airport for decades. Recent expansion and a gift from Kirk Ririe, Bob and Cyndi Douglass and the Lawrence T. & Janet T. Dee Foundation made it possible.

“I’m originally from the Chicago area and O’Hare International Airport is iconic Brachiosaurus Skeleton that inspires people. “That’s what I’ve always wanted for the Salt Lake City airport,” said Randy Irmis, curator of paleontology at NHMU and professor of geology at the University of Utah. “Utah is known for its dinosaurs. We hope this inspires visitors and locals to explore our state’s really cool dinosaur heritage.”

Irmis suggested a handful of potential candidates, but Allosaurus fragilis was the obvious choice. In addition to being Utah’s official fossil, this specimen has a long history with the state, the underground railroad, and the museum.

In 1924, a team of scientists led by U geology professor Frederick J. Pack excavated the Allosaurus fragilis Fossil in the recently established Dinosaur National Monument. They uncovered it Allosaurus in a world-famous part of the Morrison Formation, a quarry that has yielded more than 350 tons of fossils.

The happy party transports Allosaurus and other fossilized bones with a horse caravan on a 220-mile trek from Jensen to Salt Lake City. They marched up to President’s Circle and announced their discovery with a banner reading “University Dinosaurs” draped over a wagon.

“It was the perfect choice,” Irmis said. “It’s the 100th^Th Anniversary of the fossil collection this year. It is the state fossil. It has a history with the university and the museum, and we had already had it molded and cast.”

Ally runs away

He designs this for Tim Lee, exhibition director at NHMU Allosaurus The installation was an artist’s holy grail.

“While I was working on the project, I realized that millions of people will see this. “This is pretty damn awesome… and a little daunting!” said Lee, who designed Ally’s positioning, lighting, platform and barrier. “There is so much alignment between the museum and the airport – we are both gateways to discovery and adventure, and we designed our spaces to reflect what makes Utah such an amazing, unique place.”

The architects of the museum’s Rio Tinto Center building were inspired by Utah’s dynamic landscapes and stunning geology, a principle that Lee upholds in his exhibition designs. The airport followed a similar philosophy. Gordon Huether, a world-renowned artist responsible for most of the airport’s installations, wanted to celebrate Utah’s natural beauty. As he drove across the state, he captured the wavy stripe pattern embedded in the red rocks of southern Utah. Huether designed similar shapes to decorate the new tunnel that leads visitors to the B gates.

Lee adopted the stratigraphy motif in Ally’s exhibition. The dinosaur stands amid undulating contour lines that serve as a platform and barrier for the fossil. He was inspired by the actual topography of Dinosaur National Monument, where U scientists discovered the fossil.

“I wanted the piece to fit seamlessly into what the airport had already established,” Lee said. “I wanted to highlight that too Allosaurus. If there’s anything I’ve learned working with our amazing museum collections, it’s to let the object be the story – not to overshadow it.”

MEDIA AND PR CONTACTS

• Lisa Potter
  Research Communications Specialist, University of Utah Communications
  949-533-7899
  [email protected]
• Margaret Chamberlain
  Public Relations, Natural History Museum of Utah
  (406) 581-0191
  [email protected]