Man Dreams of Bringing Dinosaurs to Central Park

This diagram shows what Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' planned Paleozoic Museum
might have looked like in Central Park. American Museum of Natural History.

(Oct. 11) -- This past summer, a widely read news story posed the question "How many dinosaurs could live in Central Park?" In the piece, scientists theorized that a parcel the size of Central Park might have fed several warmblooded adult sauropods, or perhaps 100 cold-blooded sauropods.

The headline grabbed the attention of Carl Mehling, who first thought the article was referencing something else -- something near and dear to his heart.

But it wasn't.

"I breathed a sigh of relief, because I've been in love with this story since I learned about it in high school," Mehling told AOL News. "It's part of my life. My dream. Now it's time to try and make it real. I mean, who wouldn't want to see dinosaurs in Central Park ... right?"

Mehling has been at the American Museum of Natural History for 20 years and currently serves as the manager for the museum's fossil amphibians, reptiles and birds collection. The collections he oversees include the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world, so his passion is understandable when it comes to discussing them.

But dinosaurs in Central Park? Just what story did he read in high school?

It was the tale of the English sculptor and natural history artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, best known for creating the world's first life-sized restorations of non-avian dinosaurs. These giant treasures, designed with the help of famed British paleontologist Sir Richard Owen, are still on display at Crystal Palace Park, Sydenham, south London.

To understand how compelling the Hawkins dinosaurs were to the public, it's probably best to use the movie "Jurassic Park" as a reference. What that film did for a 20th century audience, Hawkins' dinosaurs did for a 19th century audience -- that is to say, they thoroughly captivated adults and children alike.

Soon after creating his British dinosaurs, Hawkins was commissioned to create a similar treatment of the fossil vertebrates in New York City. Where was the Hawkins "Paleozoic Museum" to be located? Central Park.

He began working in a studio on the giant dinosaur sculptures, but in 1871 the corrupt Tammany Hall political machine -- led by the notorious "Boss" Tweed -- intervened and thwarted the project. The unfinished sculptures were smashed to pieces and buried in Central Park, near the present-day site of the Heckscher ball fields, which are located between 63rd and 65th streets on the West Side.

No trace of them has ever been found.

Mehling's dream today? Finish Hawkins' unfinished business. Have those giant dinosaur sculptures rebuilt and placed in Central Park, right where they would have originally stood.

As he further explained to AOL News, "I stand at the site today, and I can picture those sculptures, just where they would have been. There's no plaque or marker or anything today to educate people about the amazing project that Hawkins planned for our city. Nothing."

Mehling recently started up a Facebook page to begin building support for the project. However, the heart of his efforts can be found in a detailed proposal he created several years ago for the city of New York.

Titled "Revivifying the Ancient Word," Mehling's overview begins like this:

Project: Erect a monument to celebrate Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' attempt at raising the Paleozoic Museum in New York City's Central Park.

Scope: Bronze statues of 2 of his intended dinosaurs (Laelaps [currently known as Dryptosaurus] and Hadrosaurus) rendered in his style atop a granite base on the site of the proposed museum. The larger of the 2 animals will project 39' above the top of the pedestal, which will have a small footprint of about 20' square (pedestal height to be determined). The dinosaurs will be designed based on surviving historical drawings of Hawkins' which show exactly how he intended the sculptures to look. The monument will be visible from the street as the Paleozoic Museum would have been.

A panel on the granite base should read: "The jolly old beast is not deceased. There's life in him again." This line comes from a jubilant song belted out by the original attendees of the official unveiling of Hawkins' Crystal Palace dinosaurs. While it was meant to describe the resurrection of the dinosaurs, as well as the lively dinner served to eminent scientists of the time inside one of the models, it now also refers to the long-overdue display of some of his creations."

While Mehling was unable to sell the idea when he initially pitched it, he's never considered the idea dead and buried.

"We just need to get it in front of the right people," he said. "I've never given up on this, and I think now is the time to bring it back. There are far more social media opportunities to get people informed and excited about this, which I think will help me make my case in a more powerful way."

Mehling wants people to join his Facebook page to prove that there's public interest in the creation of these giant dinosaur statues in Central Park.

For this dreamer of dinosaurs, there's no better way to pay homage to the dream Hawkins had.

"No place deserves this more than this town," the born-and-bred New Yorker said. "And I'm not going to rest until we get this done. We have the vision. We have the plans. We have the team in place. All we need is the support of the city."

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/carl-mehlings-big-dream-bringing-dinosaurs-to-central-park/19625438