April 18, 2024
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Volo Auto Museum rolls out new dinosaurs exhibit

Jurassic Gardens features more than three dozen animatronic and a dino-themed playground outside

By Northwest Herald staff report

Visitors take in the learning center at Jurassic Gardens during a recent preview tour of the new attraction at the Volo Auto Museum on Volo Village Road. (Provided by Volo Auto Museum)

A towering T-Rex greets visitors to the new Jurassic Gardens at Volo Auto Museum, a new and permanent exhibit filled with more than three dozen animatronic and several static dinosaurs on display, as well as a dino-themed playground outside.

The exhibit is the culmination of an idea that sparked in 2019, according to a news release. Transforming what formerly was the mercantile mall took nearly a year, including a fair few seven-day work weeks to stick to the mid-May opening plan.

During the COVID-19 pandemic closure, crews gutted the 13,000-square-foot space and along with building each mechanical, metal, moving frame beneath the animatronic dinosaurs, they also installed greenery, a pathway, a theater-quality sound system and informative plaques, according to the release.

Just a few months ago, what is now Jurassic Gardens was a teeming mass of dino pieces awaiting placement in a newly gutted building on the Volo Auto Museum grounds. (Provided by Volo Auto Museum)

“With the background sounds, the lighting, the foliage, the movement, it pulls you into dinosaur times,” Volo Auto Museum Director Brian Grams said in a statement. “We paid a lot of attention to detail to make this an immersive experience.”

A soft opening the weekend of May 14 drew about 1,600 visitors, and tickets remain on sale at the museum at 27582 Volo Village Road or online at volocars.com.

Jurassic Gardens isn’t the only new draw to the museum, according to the release. Also viewable is a restored, fully functional 1920s Herschell Carousel; a newly expanded vintage tractor display; and more movie cars.

With pandemic mitigations loosening, the ShowBiz Pizza Place is on pace to reopen in June and plans are underway to bring back summer-time train rides that offer a guided tour of the property, recently expanded by about 60 acres to the north, according to the release.

This towering, bellowing T-Rex greets visitors to the new Jurassic Gardens adventure at Volo Auto Museum, 27582 Volo Village Road. (Provided by Volo Auto Museum)

Tickets to see Jurassic Gardens are $15.95 for ages 5 and older and free for those 4 and younger. Auto museum tickets are $19.95 for adults or $12.95 for children ages 5 to 12.

Combo tickets – which provide entry to both attractions plus a second consecutive day’s entry free of charge – are $31.95 per adult and $24.95 per child.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for both attractions.

For information, find Volo Auto Museum or Jurassic Gardens on Facebook, visit volocars.com or call 815-385-3644.

Volo