Popular Attraction at Dinosaur National Monument Closed

Popular Attraction at Dinosaur National Monument Closed


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Alex Cabrero ReportingConcerns about safety have closed Dinsosaur National Monument, and it could be closed for quite some time.

This closure is tough to swallow because it comes right in the middle of tourism season.

Popular Attraction at Dinosaur National Monument Closed

The popular quarry building has been closed for structural damage. It could be closed for several months, a year, maybe even longer.

Wayne Prokopetz has worked at Dinosaur National Monument for over a decade. In all his time there, he's never had a sadder day than today.

Wayne Prokopetz, Dinosaur National Monument: "It's gotten to the point where we really had to make a decision, it's really a tough one to make this time of year."

Popular Attraction at Dinosaur National Monument Closed

The most popular attraction there, the fossil bone quarry, is closed. The building it's in just isn't safe anymore.

Wayne Prokopetz: "If we have a tremor, this main rotunda area would just pancake."

Cracks all around the building, shifting metal beams, an uneven floor and a ceiling where tiles could fall all led to this morning's decision to close the place.

Popular Attraction at Dinosaur National Monument Closed

Sherry Johnson and her family came just to see the bones and fossils.

Sherry Johnson , Marietta, Calif. Resident: "We made this stop from Mt. Rushmore this morning on our way to southern California, so, it would've been fun to see it."

Prokopetz understands the disappointments visitors will have, but says it's better to be disappointed than possibly injured, if anything should happen.

Popular Attraction at Dinosaur National Monument Closed

Wayne Prokopetz: "It was a real concern, like I said, visitor safety and staff safety."

Engineers will now decide if they should make this building safer or build a new one. The rest of the park is still open for visitors.

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