Quarry Visitor Center
{{short description|Visitor center in the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Quarry Visitor Center
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Dinosaur National Monument (6856251672).jpg
| caption = Quarry Visitor Center, March 2012
| location = Dinosaur National Monument, Utah
United States
| coordinates = {{coord|40|26|26|N|109|18|4|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Utah#USA
| area =
| built = 1958
| architect = Anshen & Allen; Richard Hein; Robert D. Dewell-Structural Engineer
| architecture =
| added = December 19, 1986{{NRISref|2007a}}
| mpsub = Dinosaur National Monument MRA
| refnum = 86003401
}}
File:Quarry Visitor Center July 1963.jpg
Quarry Visitor Center, in Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah County, Utah, United States was built as part of the National Park Service's (NPS) Mission 66 program of modern architectural design in the US national parks. This visitor center exemplifies the philosophy of locating visitor facilities immediately at the resource being interpreted. The visitor center was closed from 2006 to 2011 due to structural damage from unstable soils. The rotunda structure was demolished and replaced with a new structure of different design, while the quarry section was being stabilized and repaired.{{cite web|title=Quarry Construction Background|url=http://www.nps.gov/dino/parknews/quarry-construction-background.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=14 July 2010}}{{cite web|title=Grand Opening Announcement|url=https://www.nps.gov/dino/learn/news/grand-opening-announcement.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=28 February 2017}}{{cite journal|last=Hill|first=David|title=Wrecking Ball to Swing on "Mission 66" Visitor Center|journal=Architectural Record|date=June 2, 2009| pages=24|volume=197 |issue=6|url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/backissues/2009-06.pdf?1243828800|access-date=23 March 2025}} The NPS now refers to the new visitor center (built in 2011 about {{convert|1800|ft|m|disp=sqbr}} to the southwest) as the "Quarry Visitor Center" and the historical building as the "Quarry Exhibit Hall".{{cite press release|url=https://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/AMERICAS-GREAT-OUTDOORS-Salazar-Dedicates-New-Visitor-Center-at-Dinosaur-National-Monument|title=AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS: Salazar Dedicates New Visitor Center at Dinosaur National Monument|website=doi.gov|publisher=United States Department of the Interior|date=September 28, 2011|accessdate=November 8, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm|title=Visitor Centers|website=nps.gov|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=November 8, 2024}}
Design
The visitor center was built in part to attract visitors to the little-visited monument, which had been threatened with flooding by the Echo Park Dam, as a means of guarding against renewed reservoir proposals.{{cite web|last=Sellars|first=Richard West|title=Chapter 5: The War and Postwar Years, 1940-1963|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/sellars/chap5e.htm|work=Preserving History in the National Parks: A History|publisher=Yale University Press|access-date=31 May 2011}}{{cite web|last=Allaback|first=Sarah|title=Quarry Visitor Center|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/allaback/vc1.htm|work=Mission 66 Visitor Centers|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=31 May 2011}} The visitor center's concept was first expressed in 1916 when George Otis Smith, the director of the U.S. Geological Survey, suggested that the specimens be displayed in the northern canyon wall. Local citizens, including the dinosaur quarry's discoverer Earl Douglass, proposed a skylit shelter for the display. A temporary shelter for the bones and their excavators was finally built in 1936. A preliminary design in January 1937 was produced by a group including the Park Service Western Office of Design and Construction, the American Museum of Natural History and the directorate of the Park Service that closely resembled the eventual design by Anshen and Allen. A number of succeeding designs followed, becoming more elaborate and departing from this concept. No funding emerged for the design, but a new wood and corrugated sheet metal shelter was built in 1951, reminiscent of the 1916 proposal.{{cite web|last=Allaback|title=Quarry Visitor Center|url=http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/allaback/vc1a.htm|page=2}} The visitor center was completed in 1958, and the following engineers and contractor realized the final architectural design: Robert D. Dewell, Structural Engineer; Earl & Gropp, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers; R. K. McCullough Construction Co., General Contractors.{{cite journal|title=Recent Work of Ashen & Allen|journal=Architectural Record|date=September 1958| pages=165-180|volume=124 |issue=3|url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-1958-09.pdf|access-date=23 March 2025}}
The Quarry Visitor Center was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.{{cite web|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Quarry Visitor Center|url={{NHLS url|id=86003401}} |format=PDF|date=September 1, 2000 |last1=Allaback|first1=Sarah|last2=Carr|first2=Ethan|last3=Sprinkle, Jr|first3=John H.|name-list-style=amp |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=86003401|title=Accompanying seven images, from 1958 and 1999 and undated plan|photos=y}} {{small|(32 KB)}}
See also
{{stack|{{portal|National Register of Historic Places|Utah}}}}
References
{{reflist|22em}}
External links
{{commons category|Quarry Visitor Center}}
- [http://www.nps.gov/dino/planyourvisit/quarry-exhibit-hall.htm Quarry Visitor Center]
- {{HABS |survey=UT-138 |id=ut0701 |title=Quarry Visitor Center, U.S. Highway 40, 8 miles north of Jensen, Jensen, Uintah County, UT |photos=42 |color= |dwgs= |data=86 |cap=3}}
{{NRHP in Dinosaur NM}}
{{NRHP in Utah by county}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{authority control}}
Category:National Historic Landmarks in Utah
Category:Buildings and structures in Uintah County, Utah
Category:National Park Service visitor centers
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Dinosaur National Monument
Category:Tourist attractions in Uintah County, Utah
Category:Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Utah
Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Utah
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Uintah County, Utah