The highly anticipated Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University, which has been under development in Mantua NJ for the last three years, today announced they will open their doors in March 2025.
The Edelman Fossil Park & Fossil Museum is sure to be a world-class museum, which will bring the age of dinosaurs roaring back to life with amazing exhibits, live animal encounters and life-size depictions of creatures which roamed the Mid-Atlantic seaboard 66 Million years ago!
The latest museum technology will also be in the mix including a roaming virtual reality space where you will feel like you are walking amongst the dinosaurs… Just like in the Jurassic Park movies but YOU will be in the scene!
One of most talked about aspects of the $70+ Million Dollar project is that it was developed on the site of a very significant archaeological fossil dig… and Edelman Fossil Park guests will be able to dig for actual dinosaur fossils which have been preserved underground for over 66 million years!
The Fossil Park is the only place in the world where you could see a preserved fossil ecosystem from the exact moment the asteroids which marked the end of the dinosaurs, impacted the earth.
I was fortunate enough to get a preview tour of the building earlier in the summer, and while the facility at the time was still under construction and there were no exhibits in place it was easy to understand the significance and impressiveness of the entire museum complex which offers fun and incredible learning experiences… inside and out.
The impressive project is being developed off of Woodbury-Glassboro Road in Mantua, very conveniently close to Exit 53 of Route 55 (thank you dinosaurs for dying in a convenient location!). It’s location is just minutes from Philadelphia, with direct and easy access to Route 295, Philadelphia, and the New Jersey Turnpike.
As part of this museum development, Gloucester County developed a $10 million access road which connects the museum to Woodbury-Glassboro Road at the traffic signaled intersection of Mantua Boulevard. The short drive into the property slowly unveils the sights of the Edelman Museum, as the tall trees surrounding the roadway clear away to reveal the all-new construction museum building sitting on a hill between the quarry lake (left) and the fossil park dig (right).
Inside the museum visitors can explore the hands-on Discovery Forest, marvel at live animals at Critter Cove, and engage with interactive exhibits including an indoor fossil hunt powered by RFID technology.
As mentioned EFM will offer a thrilling “free roaming” Dinosaur VR experience, and will also include a museum store, cafe, theater, scenic nature tails around the property and a paleontology themed children’s playground.
An interesting and slightly shocking aspect to the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum location is that it is located directly behind a Lowes Home Improvement center!
The story behind it becomes even more “wow really?” when you learn the property for the museum has been known for likely 100 years as being a globally significant hotbed for dinosaur bones, but for most of those decades the land was a surface mine for the mud-like marl clay that was preserving the fossils!
In fact the address for the museum is 66 Million Mosasaur Way, a name which honors the 1961 finding of a 50-foot long “Mosasaurus Maximus ancient marine lizard” on the site. The property was actively being mined by the Inversand company who uncovered the bones and recognizing their significance… contacted paleontologists and geologists with the New Jersey State Museum.
The 1961 article in the Gloucester County Times calls out that since the mid-1930s the Company had been finding significant fossils at the property including a crocodile in 1934 and in 1957 a huge thighbone from a duck-billed dinosaur.
A huge thanks to the Inversand company for reaching out to proper specialists over the decades as these fossils were uncovered… But sadly the marl mining continued at the site until 2012!
Thankfully around the year 2000, Dr. Kenneth Lacovara became familiar with the Mantua Property and while the marl mining continued, he was able to work with the company to continue fossil research on the property.
Around 2012 the Inversand Company decided they would no long operate the marl pit operation and then n 2015 stated they could no longer operate the huge pumps that kept the fossil-ladened pit free of water.
Would you believe that around this time the property was being looked at as a site for housing developments?!
This is when Dr. Kenneth Lacovara started the “grassroots campaign” to save the property as an archeological site. He reached out to Rowan University (as well as elected officials in the area) which then led to the Edelman family… first with the simple hope of just preserving the property.
Through an amazing amount of work, perseverance and likely at times… luck, the world now has the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum to enjoy forever.
Edelman Fossil Park & Museum was made possible by a generous donation from Rowan University alumni Jean & Ric Edelman. In addition to its commitment to education and impact, EFM is designed with sustainability at its core, featuring geothermal and electric systems that significantly reduce its carbon footprint. EFM aims to inspire positive change, transforming generations through scientific wonder and prioritizing the future of our planet.
Links And Location
Edelman Fossil Park & Museum
66 Million Mosasaur Way
Mantua Township, NJ 08080