A rendering of the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum, which encompasses 123 acres in Mantua and is situated in a former marl quarry.
The Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University is now expected to open in March.
The park is located behind the Mantua Lowe’s on Woodbury-Glassboro Road and encompasses 123 acres at a former marl quarry. The area was found to contain evidence of the asteroid that struck the planet 66 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs.
“The fossil park’s four-acre fossil quarry … is providing scientists with the best view ever into this pivotal, calamitous event that ended an Earth era, paving the way for the modern world as we know it,” notes the facility’s website.
The park and museum is headed by paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara, dean of Rowan’s School of Earth and Environment.
““We have uniquely occurring evidence,” he explained, “for the fifth extinction event 66 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and 75% of life on Earth, and this is the only place on the planet where you can see really how that event unfolded. So really this is a site of world heritage.”
The Edelman museum’s mission is to provide the public with an understanding of the planet’s past in order to help build a better future. Guests will learn about the fossils on the site; according to the website, there have already been more than 100,000 of them from 100 species discovered there. One is a 55-foot mosasaur from the Cretaceous Period, when dinosaurs were atop the food chain.
The museum is named after Rowan alumni Jean and Ric Edelman, who donated $25 million to build it. It is expected to draw 200,000 people a year to Mantua, according to Mayor Robert Zimmerman, and generate more than $600,000 in revenue by the end of next year.
“This is a win-win for our great community,” the mayor noted. ” … Mantua Township is on the verge of having a world-renowned fossil park and museum right here in our own backyard, behind the Lowe’s on Woodbury-Glassboro Road. ” … It will provide jobs to locals, educate our youth and help boost our economy by way of visitors patronizing local restaurants and other local businesses.”
