By Tina Thorley
You don't have to go to the movies to see dinosaurs in Utah Valley, thanks to the opening of the North American Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi (NAMAL).
Work first began on the museum in July of 1999. This summer Phase 1 of the project opened to the public.
Phase 1 is the first step in the new dinosaur museum. This phase is mostly geared towards younger children with numerous interactive learning experiences, said William Bridges, Executive Director of NAMAL.
Bridges said that one goal of the museum was not only to entertain but to teach the customers as well.
'We wanted to present things both educational and unique,' Bridges said. 'We have a school curriculum, so teachers can bring their students in and teach them.'
Among the learning tools available to children are computer activities, mock dinosaur digs with real stegosaurus bones, a mapping quarry and articulation walls for children to complete dinosaur skeletons.
Bridges said Phase 2 is scheduled to open in the summer of 2001.
This phase is designed to 'transport the visitors back in time one billion years,' Bridges said.
Phase 2 will display hundreds of flying reptiles and fossils and more than 50 dinosaurs.
'When we open next summer, we will have the largest collection of dinosaurs on display anywhere in the world,' Bridges said.
'Many of the skeletons displayed are extremely rare,' Bridges said. 'We have one of three baby stegosauruses in the world.'
After Phase 2 opens, Bridges hopes to be able to attract people of all ages not just children.
'Just playing in Phase 1 with the kids was exciting, but I can't wait to go back next summer and see how big some of the dinosaurs used to be,' said Julie Bergeson, 21, a senior from Miami, Fla., majoring in marriage, family and human Development.
NAMAL also features a 50- by 70-foot Iwerks Screen Theater.
'The large screen and close-up camera shots made me feel like I was actually in Alaska watching the animals myself,' said Ryan Westenskow, 23, a graduate student, from Ogden, Utah.