Plans & Progress
The Field Center at Fossil: The Oregon Paleo Lands Institute’s new home:
The Field Center at Fossil will achieve our mission to protect, promote, and educate about Oregon’s ancient and living landscapes through these hands-on, regionally-based exhibits. It will complement the John Day Fossil Beds’ new Thomas Condon Center by providing regional information not present in--but related to-- this and other regional centers. We will engage schools across Oregon in developing, designing, and building our exhibits, making it a truly educational facility for all Oregonians.
WHAT THE FIELD CENTER WILL INCLUDE: The displays and exhibits in the Field Center at Fossil will provide hands-on informative learning opportunities that are fun as well as educational. Our principal contents:
ASSEMBLING OREGON: How did Oregon’s landscapes form over the past 400-million years? How do present processes shape the landscape, and effect our lives? Where are the major faults, and other hazards?
OREGON’S MOST ANCIENT ECOSYSTEMS: The Thomas Condon Center elegantly portrays life in Oregon 7 to 50 million years ago. Our OPLI Field Center will show the creatures and ecosystems of the REST of Oregon’s history, 50 to 400 million years ago, and the Ice Age. Look for a full-size plesiosaur, a full-size ichthyosaur, a Columbian mammoth, and a dire wolf in our center.
ANCIENT CLIMATES, MODERN CHANGES: What caused ancient climates to change? What’s the evidence here in the John Day basin? Why was this a greenhouse world 55 million years ago? Why did 90% of life die some 250 million years ago? What ‘s happening to the climate now? What will Oregon be like in the future? What can we learn from climate-changes of the past?
JOHN DAY BASIN LANDSCAPES TODAY: What plants and wildlife live in the John Day Basin today? Where can you hike? Raft? Find the Dalles Military Road? Where can you find fuel? Food? Lodging? A guide for visitors and residents alike.
FIELD CENTER at FOSSIL DESIGN: The buildings will be energy efficient, LEED certified, and a model for future sustainable building in rural communities. The building itself will be part of the exhibits, so visitors can understand how its design, materials and construction provide high energy efficiency, low cost for heating and cooling, and efficient operation.
High energy-efficiency, including:
- Active and Passive solar design
- Cooling efficiencies include cooling tower, cool night air, wind, shade.
Sustainably built:
- Local and certified materials used in construction
- LEED-certified building.
Distinctive design & components\
- Rammed-earth wall
- Out-door and porch-based exhibits to connect outside park and interior exhibits.
- Landscaping includes paleo-garden, sculptures of Paleozoic, of ancient animals, and native plant exhibits.
YES!
I would like to support the Field Center at Fossil. Please contact me with information about a contribution to general construction or a specific component!!
