Opening of N.J. dinosaur fossil park and museum pushed back for a 2nd time

The planned opening of a $73 million dinosaur fossil park and museum in South Jersey has now been rescheduled to March.
Officials at the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University were hoping to open this fall after a summer opening was pushed back, according to the benefactor and school alumnus who contributed more than a third of the cost for the 65-acre facility in Mantua, Gloucester County.
“We’re disappointed that it’s taking longer than we had anticipated to finish the project,” Ric Edelman told NJ Advance Media in July. “But we are very much looking forward to the grand opening.”
An announcement Wednesday reset the opening for March. Edelman was not able to be reached for comment.
“The highly anticipated Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University (EFM) will open its doors in March 2025, welcoming guests to an immersive exploration of dinosaurs and other prehistoric species,” the statement said. “The museum will provide a portal into the fascinating lost world of dinosaurs, offering an extraordinary opportunity to dig for real fossils at the only place in the world where you can see a preserved fossil ecosystem from the exact moment of the asteroid impact that marked the end of the dinosaurs.”
The park is on the site of a former industrial sand pit. Researchers have already turned up a fossil of the largest prehistoric crocodile ever found, Rowan said. Parts of New Jersey were once underwater on prehistoric Earth and the fossils on site are buried in marl sand as opposed to being encased in rock like researchers find in other parts of the country.
Just a few hundred square yards of the 65-acre site have been fully excavated but have still yielded more than 50,000 cataloged marine and terrestrial fossils, from reptilian mosasaurs to sea turtles, sharks, bony fish, coral and clams, the university said.
“We open a window onto the profound and pivotal events of the fifth mass extinction, during which the dinosaurs and 75 percent of species perished, shaping the modern world as we know it,” Kenneth Lacovara, founding executive director of the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum, said in the statement Wednesday. “The fossils unearthed here tell the epic story of life’s fragility and resilience, weaving a cautionary tale that frames our present challenges and provides a roadmap towards a more sustainable tomorrow.”
Visitors to the park and museum will be able to dig for fossils and keep many of their finds as souvenirs. Some of the discoveries, however, will be kept for further research. The 44,000-square-foot museum will sit above a former marl quarry.
“The facility is going to be world class,” Edelman said earlier this year. “The construction quality is outstanding. The exhibits are astonishing and everyone’s going to love it.”
One of the museum’s planned exhibits include a recreated Dryptosaurus, the first discovered tyrannosaur, which was found a mile from the fossil park site in 1866, and a 53-foot mosasaur, like one discovered at the fossil park site.
In the depths of the quarry, more than 40 feet below the park, over 100,000 fossils from more than 100 species, including mosasaurs, marine crocodiles, sea turtles, and sharks, have been unearthed, underscoring the site’s significance, the statement said.
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Bill Duhart may be reached at [email protected].