Dino museum set to join Loop

The breakthrough the Outback Gondwana Foundation has been seeking for a decade finally came with the State Government’s announcement of $500,000 towards stage one of the Eromanga Natural History Museum (ENHM). 
The announcement came as the team were excavating the site of ‘Zac’, one of Australia’s most intact sauropod skeletons, not a lot smaller than Cooper, the nation’s largest dinosaur also excavated by the OGF team.
“It is 10 years since our first discovery of dinosaur remains in this area, which has become known as one of the richest dinosaur fields in Australia,” OGF Chairman Stuart Mackenzie said.
“Stage one is an $800,000 development, with contributions also being made by Quilpie Shire Council and OGF.”
The construction of a large storage shed equipped to house the ENHM collection until dedicated museum facilities are built will commence within months. 
This building will be the interim processing and collection centre for South West Queensland’s fossil heritage. The facility will provide a display area for the public and a laboratory to enable staff and scientists to work to scientifically describe the Eromanga dinosaurs’ new genus and other specimens that are completely new to science. On-site staff accommodation and amenities are also part of stage one of the Eromanga Natural History Museum.
“The museum facility will be a great boost to tourism, providing another fascinating attraction on the Natural Sciences Loop that runs west from Cunnamulla through Eulo, Thargomindah, Eromanga, Quilpie to Charleville. “Our hope is that by next year, people will be able to add a visit to the dinosaur museum to the experiences of taking a plunge at the artesian mud baths, fossicking for opals, star gazing at the Cosmos Centre or visiting the Burke and Wills ‘Dig Tree’ and the numerous other attractions on the Loop,” Mr Mackenzie said.