Dinosaurs defined the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods millions of years ago. They saw Pangea break apart, plants push out of the earth and the earliest birds and mammals come to life.
Then, they defined four decades of growing up in Seattle. Generations of kids — most now grown-ups, and some parents themselves — remember gazing upon the ancient wonders at Pacific Science Center.
But the museum confirmed Friday that even these dinosaurs have gone extinct.
A triceratops and a stegosaurus, which have waded in PacSci’s now-empty reflecting pool for 35 years, were removed this month due to safety risks and ongoing courtyard renovations, according to Julie O’Mara, director of marketing and membership at the center.
“These fiberglass sculptures were very fragile and past their useful life,” she said in a statement.
The creatures were designed by Wes Stanley in 1968 with hopes they would stand in Washington’s first dinosaur park, but after that idea crumbled, the almost 30-foot-long beasts loitered for a half-dozen years in Cathy Fisher’s Bellevue yard, growing coats of moss.
Everything changed when the Fishers donated the sculptures to PacSci in 1991. They were sent to Stanley, who cleaned them up and repaired them for installation at the museum, where they would quickly become Seattle icons.
The pair survived the first mass extinction last September, when the museum closed its main dinosaur exhibit, “A Journey Through Time, after the center deemed the costs to repair the aging exhibit so high they outweighed its educational value.
There was a goodbye party and an auction to find new homes for the dinosaurs in fair condition, but this time around, there was no fanfare to bid the last two goodbye before they left the world for good.
Photos taken by residents who stumbled upon the dinosaurs’ deinstallation made rounds on social media this week. They showed the sculptures broken into pieces and packed away in shipping containers.
“That really breaks my heart,” said R.B. Wick, 40, of Bellingham, who grew up visiting the dinosaurs at PacSci.
Wick recalled going to a sleepover at the museum with his father when he was 6.
“We slept in the dinosaur room, and I remember saying, 'The three-horn will keep us safe, Dad,' ” he said.
Years later, he learned his wife had gone to a Girl Scouts sleepover in the dinosaur room when she was 6.
“I feel like we're doing a disservice by removing all the dinosaur exhibits from the Science Center, and I think that they need to find a way to bring them back,” he said.
Today, Wick owns Bellingham Coin Shop, a wonderland of knickknacks, antiques and collectibles. He said he calls himself a modern-day archaeologist, on the hunt for treasure to preserve.
“I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a little kid,” he said. “I feel like my success probably stemmed from being at the Science Center and seeing the dinosaur exhibit.”
When Wick heard the museum’s main dinosaur exhibit was closing last year, he purchased the triceratops head at auction for $3,350, so he could display it in his shop. But now that the final dinosaurs have left the museum, he hopes PacSci can bring back some form of the beloved dinosaur exhibit.
“They are not outdated. They are timeless creatures of the past, and if we're not careful, we're gonna watch other giant creatures from today go extinct,” he said.
Since the main dinosaur exhibit closed, others have worked to preserve its magic.
Caleb Riston, 31, of Clearview is working on a virtual tour of the main exhibit. Before it closed last year, he took around 40 panoramic photos of the space to create a time capsule for all who want to take “A Journey Through Time” and wander back to their childhoods.
“It'll just be kind of an open photographic project," he said. "No royalties, nobody has to pay for it. They can just take a look at it, and download it, and save it to make whatever they want with it.
As he continues to develop the virtual tour, Riston hopes whatever PacSci does with the space next will bring the next generations the same fond memories the dinosaurs did.
“I'm wishing them the best and hoping that they come up with exciting, educational content that the kids today are going to be able to look back on fondly in 30 years,” he said.
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