The Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation has exciting plans for the celebration of the community's 25th anniversary in 2006, in addition to the creation of the BC Dinosaur Discovery Gallery in the Community Centre. Mayor and Council recently approved the development of two exhibits in the foyer of the Town Hall.

The Town Hall is an architectural masterpiece, complete with a bell tower and high ceilings and vaults. Its lower walls are tastefully adorned with pictures and other items that celebrate the achievements of the community over the years. What the Museum Foundation intends to do is extend the display area, using the under-utilized higher walls and platforms. In the process the visitors' appreciation of this unique building will be enhanced (much like in the great domed churches of Europe where one's gaze is naturally drawn upwards to the ceiling).

The first of these exhibits will focus on the dinosaur contribution to the community and its economic diversification. The Museum Foundation has acquired a small ankylosaur model created by artist Renee Lynn Haggart of Vancouver. Ankylosaurs have become Tumbler Ridge's theme dinosaurs. This will be prominently exhibited along with a framed theropod footprint and text panels. It is planned to have this exhibit ready for a January 1st opening.

The second exhibit will celebrate the creation and very early days of Tumbler Ridge, with photos and newspaper articles from that era, along with text panels summarizing those heady days and what led to the birth of Tumbler Ridge. Similar exhibits will be developed in the Community Centre.

“Palaeontological discoveries continue to have a positive impact on our community in a myriad of ways,” said Ray Proulx, the District’s Economic Development Officer, “Dinosaurs have become embedded in our local culture over the past few years, so it is only fitting that this is reflected within the town site’s most prominent physical feature.”

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