Exhibition plans revealed after dinosaur find
It comes amid excitement at the recent discovery of dinosaur footprints near the city – the first time they have been discovered on the Scottish mainland.
Inverness museum, which is bidding for £15,500 from the Inverness Common Good Fund to stage the exhibition, says British Dinosaurs will have the “wow factor” and believes it would benefit the city centre.
In its application for funding, the museum stated: “There is huge public demand for a dinosaur exhibition but to date we have not been able to fulfil this demand because our venue is too small and the high costs involved are unaffordable.
“However, we have managed to source an exhibition which will be tailored for Inverness Museum and Art Gallery which will have the wow factor.”
The exhibition, set to take place between November and late January, will contain casts of dinosaur skeletons including a plesiosaur, the type suggested to be the Loch Ness Monster.
Objects from Perth Museum and the Dinosaur Museum in Skye will also be on show plus interactive and holographic displays.
Exhibitions officer Cathy Shankland said if it goes ahead, it would involve extending the usually reduced winter hours.
“Everyone loves dinosaurs,” she said.
“The fact there has been the discovery of footprints on the city’s doorstep makes it even more exciting.”
Alison Parfitt, collections engagement curator, said High Life Highland services had run a summer activity programme with a dinosaur focus while a creative challenge, the Design-a-Saurus, is being developed with a strong science, technology, engineering and maths focus.
Dr Neil Clark, curator of palaeontology at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, announced last week he had found dinosaur footprints, thought to be 170 million years old, at a coastal site near Inverness.
- The latest applications to the Inverness Common Good Fund will be presented to the city committee on Thursday.
