A Tumbler Ridge, B.C. resident is hoping her town can be the new home for the world’s largest dinosaur.

The 25-metre tall statue of Tyra the Tyrannosaurus rex currently towers over the community of Drumheller, Alta. It welcomes about 150,000 visitors a year who climb 106 stairs to pose inside of her mouth at a cost of $5 a person.

But the local chamber of commerce is looking to decommission Tyra by the end of 2029, citing the high cost of maintenance to keep her structurally sound into the next decade.

Jennifer Slack believes if Drumheller is willing to give Tyra up, Tumbler Ridge should welcome her with open arms, particularly given the February mass shooting that thrust the community of just over 2,400 into international headlines.

“I don’t want our town to be known for the recent tragic events that have happened. I want people to say, ‘Oh, I know Tumbler Ridge, they have Tyra the dino,'” she said in an interview with CBC Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk.

“I think it would be a nice complement to our town.”

Slack, who moved from Alberta to Tumbler Ridge to work at a local coal mine about three years ago, said her adopted home is the logical next step for Tyra. While Drumheller is well-known for its dinosaur attractions, Tumbler Ridge is also a hotbed of fossils, bones and prehistoric research.

High cost of maintenance

The biggest barrier is cost; aside from the logistics of transporting Tyra, there’s also ongoing maintenance to contend with.

A recent report found that while the dino is structurally sound, ongoing upkeep starts at $154,000 with continued maintenance running into the hundreds of thousands in the years to follow.

It is those ongoing calls that prompted the Drumheller chamber to announce a year ago that they plan to dismantle Tyra when the lease on the land she occupies expires in 2029.

But there are strong calls for Tyra to stay put, with more than 25,000 people signing a petition for Drumheller to keep her, and the mayor and council promising they will review the data to see what role they can play in the statue’s future.

For her part, Slack says she is taking the bid to relocate Tyra seriously, after posting the thought idly to a community message board.

“I received over 100 comments,” she said. “I’ve seen other posts … and with that momentum, I thought, ‘I’m going to actually do it.'”

Slack is preparing a presentation to council and says she’s starting to talk to local industry and businesses about supporting the relocation, with some positive results. With three years to go, she’s hopeful a sound plan can be put in place to make the move happen.

“It’d be awesome,” she said. “And my kid, he could say, ‘Yeah, my mommy, she helped bring the dinosaur to town.'”

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