Big Visitor Bringing Big Opportunity to Dorchester Business
Friday, January 26th, 2018
Next month Dorchester will welcome the arrival of Dippy the Diplodocus, on public display for the first time outside of London’s Natural History Museum with Dorset County Museum being the first stop of his UK tour. Dorchester BID are looking to support the very special visitor by investing in the Dippy experience.
The £5000 investment being made by the BID for the event is set to go towards running the Dippy theme throughout the town, not only to promote his arrival, but to also promote all of the fantastic businesses we have in the area. Phil Gordon, Director of the Dorchester BID explains “the funding has come together from cost savings elsewhere and will have absolutely no impact on projects that BID have committed to deliver in their business plan.”
Phil Gordon further goes on to say “this is a huge opportunity for local businesses to benefit due to Dippy’s presence being projected to bring an extra 70,000 people to the area over his three month stay. Initial feedback from local business owners has been tremendous and many understand how truly unique the opportunity is.”
But who is Dippy? Dippy is a Diplodocus who was discovered in 1898 when railroad workers uncovered bones in the fossil-rich Wyoming, USA. He was snapped up immediately to be put on display by Scots Industrialist Andrew Carnegie for his Pittsburgh museum. King Edward VII saw a sketch of Dippy and decided to create a replica out of plaster cast which cost £2000. The replica skeleton was shipped to the UK in 36 crates and was placed on display before the original went on display.
He stands at more than four metres tall, towering over onlookers and measures a jaw dropping 26 meters from head to tail. However with the unique high level walkway which surrounds the magnificent Victorian Hall at the Dorset County Museum, visitors will be able to look at his head from a level setting.
Diplodocus lived 155-145 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. Being able to truly acknowledge the scale of our planets historic beings in person is truly a once in a lifetime experience.
