Think of it as Dinotown Lite — a scaled down version of the original theme park — but with the same flavour.
Dinotown owner Rob Ell says he is bringing the popular Dinotown family back, with Dinotown Live in a completely different format, starting on July 1.
“We’re repositioning it for the summer at Bridal Falls,” Ell tells the Progress.
They’re leasing a new site that measures about 30,000 square feet.
It’s on Bridal Falls Road, beside the Shell station, in an old western themed building.
“We’re very busy right now. And that would be an understatement,” he says.
Ell is still listed as the Mayor of Dinotown, and he even performed as one of the dinosaurs as a kid when his folks owned Dinotown.
The new spot is actually not too far from the original location.
Dinotown closed almost three years ago, as Ell was recovering from surgery to remove what turned out to be a benign brain tumour.
It was actually the gas station owner who called him up to see if he was interested in renting the vacant property with prime highway access.
“I said I was very interested,” Ell tells the Progress.
It’s been a dream of his to have other spots to present Dinotown Live in the new format.
“I’ve looked all over for another location. So for us, we’re coming home, and we’re ecstatic about it.”
The well-loved attraction, saw 2.5 million visitors through the gates from 1975, when his father built it and called it Bedrock City, to when it closed as Dinotown in 2010.
There will be obvious differences. Instead of rides in a theme park over 18 sprawling acres, there will be live shows, giant inflatables, including a water slide, a sports centre, and a safari.
“It will look like the Vancouver Children’s Festival with a bunch of white tents.”
Dusty Bones the daddy dinosaur, mom Dina, daughter DeeDee and boy Dexter will all be part of the fun at the new location.
“We’ve brought the shows back. And another nice thing about the new site is that when you look up in the sky, and it has the same beautiful view of Mount Cheam.”
The Dinotown Live attraction was created as a “pop-up park” at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds last summer, he says.
Now they’re gearing up for the 2013 launch at the new site, and will be open from Canada Day to Labour Day.
The park probably employed more than 2000 teenagers over its lifetime. To get things going this summer for the live version, they need some talented personnel from in and around Chilliwack.
They’re looking to hire 20 employees for the summer, and an operations manager. Go to the website www.dinotown.com and click on jobs to apply, or like the Dinotown Facebook page to get updates.
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
Twitter.com/chwkjourno
