Nestled in Mantua Township at 66 Million Mosasaur Way, stands the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University, with its doors now being open for only three weeks, the park and its dedicated team and staff invite the community to visit the remarkable site for an experience filled with fun, learning, and for those willingly to get a little dirty- lots and lots of digging!
Nick Sena, Edelman’s Director of Community Development and Partnerships, dug into how the park and museum came to be. Recalling, “This has been a project that broke ground about four years ago, but it’s been more than a decade in the making. From the standpoint of when Dr. Kenneth Lacovara (Rowan University Founding Dean of the School of Earth & Environment, and Founding Director of the Fossil Park) first stepped foot onto the property and began excavating in the quarry and finding fossils, it was at that point that he opened up the quarry in partnership with Mantua Township to have community dig days.
Sena went on to add, “On the first community dig day, they expected or were hoping for around 75 people to show up, and 1,500 people came that first day.” He added, “They were overwhelmed by the excitement of the community. It really provided proof of concept that there was a desire for the public to experience this type of fossil dig.”
Following the immense community support and intrigue, Dr. Lacovara approached a series of local institutions to find someone to purchase and preserve the site. If not purchased by another buyer, the site was in talks for a major redevelopment project, which would’ve had the quarry filled with the potential of a big box store moving into the location.
Rowan University, under President Ali Houshmand’s leadership, purchased the site for $1.95 million and initially planned a modest renovation of an existing barn on the property to serve as a welcome center and classroom, to act as an experience for visitors at the quarry.
However, after Dr. Lacovara presented the site’s global scientific significance to Rowan’s Board of Trustees on which Jean Edelman sat, plans changed dramatically. Inspired, Jean and Ric Edelman committed $25 million to the project.
With additional funding from Rowan and the Gloucester County Improvement Authority, the vision expanded into a $75 million world-class museum and fossil park, now open and situated on 123 scenic acres. “So, it’s been a journey, but we are so excited to now be open,” Sena says.
The Edelman Fossil Park & Museum offers an immersive experience for visitors of all ages. General admission is $29 for adults and $24 for children ages 3 to 12, while kids 2 and under enter free of charge.
The museum offers a trip through time with jaw-dropping galleries depicting full-scale reconstructions of dinosaurs, reptiles, and sea creatures that roamed the earth 66 million years ago in the region. Until proven otherwise, the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum believes it offers the most scientifically accurate representations of the Dinosaur World.
The exhibits were developed in collaboration with leading experts, scientists, and paleontologists from around the globe to ensure every detail reflects the most current scientific understanding. Sena shared his favorite exhibit, biased by what his two-year-old son adores most in the park, is an exhibit in the “Dinosaur Cove” gallery which depicts a Brachiosaurus standing on the neck of a T-Rex type dinosaur. “When my son sees it, he just lights up.
Unlike many museums that take artistic liberties to enhance visual appeal, Edelman Park prioritizes authenticity in a scientifically grounded experience. While skeletal reconstructions are on display as expected, the fully fleshed-out dinosaur models offer a stunning and surprising highlight for guests.
In addition to exploring the museum’s scientifically accurate dinosaur exhibits and late Cretaceous environments, guests can enhance their visit with several premium add-ons.
One of the available add-ons is the Free-Roaming Virtual Reality adventure that transports participants back to the Cretaceous period.
In this interactive mission, teams collect scientific samples while navigating the wild, dinosaur-filled landscape. Designed for ages 8 and up, this experience involves full physical movement and creates an unforgettable journey through prehistoric times.
The other offered add-on is the Quarry Dig Experience, available seasonally from May 1 through October. This 75-minute adventure allows visitors to dig for real 66-million-year-old fossils.
The quarry contains a sediment layer rich in iridium and shocked quartz, unmistakable signatures of the asteroid impact. From just 250 square meters of that layer, scientists have already uncovered 100,000 fossils representing 100 extinct species.
Visitors, while not digging in the critical impact layer itself, are given shovels, pails, and sifters to search slightly above it. With a bit of effort and digging, guests have the opportunity to uncover their own 65-million-year-old fossil, which museum staff help identify, package, and send home with them.
With the museum being a part of the ever-growing Rowan University, it offers a gateway for even more opportunities for the students at the university. Sena cites that both the geology and paleoclimatology make visits and go down and do work in the quarry.
He also notes that the university’s course, “The Fossil Park Experience,” spends a lot of time around Edelman as well. In addition to hands-on experience in the classroom, the fossil park is also providing professional opportunities for students, with many of the museum’s visitor experience staff attending the university.
Sena shared, “I think in the future, we’ll continue to add new student interns and student workers and others here to help give those types of experiential learning opportunities. We’re both a museum, an attraction, and a business, so we have a lot of opportunities to use this to educate students.”
Just a few weeks into operations, Edelman Fossil Park and Museum has received an overwhelming response from the public, managing to overperform their projections for how many patrons would become members. “The smiles on people’s faces when they’re in here tell us a lot,” says Sena.
To continue to strive to exceed the community’s expectations, surveys are also being sent out to all ticket purchasers following their visit. Sena assured that what visitors see now is likely to be just a portion of what the park will be in five years from now. Adding, “We’re going to continue to invest in ourselves and add things to our exhibits and add features to the property.”
As the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum settles into its new home, its impact is already leaving a substantial mark throughout the community and beyond. What began as a quarry attracting large crowds of scientific curiosity, it has evolved into a world-class destination where history, education, and discovery intertwine, showing the South Jersey community that extraordinary things can evolve in its own backyard.
Whether you’re marveling at lifelike dinosaurs, digging up your piece of prehistoric Earth, or stepping into the world of science through immersive exhibits, the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum promises an unforgettable experience that will only grow in scale and wonder in the years to come. As Sena puts it, “What other museum gives you that kind of guided experience? Probably none in the world.”
By Asiya Robinson
