The Museum of Surrey will open with a roar.

“Dinosaurs Unearthed” will be the museum’s first feature exhibition, promising to help visitors “see the prehistoric in a new way.”

The $15.7-million museum expansion will open its doors to the public on Saturday, Sept. 29, and visitors will be able to walk the newest galleries in the shadows of full-size animatronic dinosaurs, check out dig sites with skeletons ranging from bird-sized to 68-foot long sauropods, and touch fossils with impressions of skulls, bones and feathers.

The museum will have three exhibits per year in its new feature gallery. Dinosaura Unearthed will run from September 29 to March 31.

There will be plenty of other places to explore on Sept. 29 as well. The TD Explore Zone is triple the size of the museum’s previous kids zone. Kids can learn about Surrey’s natural environment, including river, forest, wetland, urban and ocean habitats, and play in the “super-sized tree house.” Parents can grab a coffee at the Lelem’ Cafe and relax in nearby parent seating.

Another must-see is the new Indigenous Hall, which was designed, curated and written by the Semiahmoo First Nation, Kwantlen First Nation and Katzie First Nation. The hall is the “first of its kind,” according to museum manager Lynn Saffery. It is a “space of gathering, storytelling and exhibition that is voiced completely by the communities it represents,” he said.

• FOR MORE: What to expect from Surrey’s new $15.7-million museum expansion

Admission to the Museum of Surrey is free, complimentary of the Friends of Surrey Museum. Starting September 29, the museum will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, visit surrey.ca.

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Cloverdale Reporter