New Jersey Dinosaur Park To Close After 15 Years Despite TV Show’s Last-Ditch Rescue Effort

A beloved prehistoric attraction in Leonia, New Jersey, will shut down this November. Fox’s “The Fixer” TV show stepped in with one final attempt to save the park. Staff tried hard to boost attendance through hands-on learning after COVID, but it wasn’t enough.

“This is a pivotal moment for Field Station: Dinosaurs,” said Guy Gsell, according to NJ.com.

“We’ve been a place of wonder and learning for families for 15 years, and while this is our final season here in Bergen County, the insights and recommendations from ‘The Fixer’ may spark new life for our prehistoric adventure in another form.”

TV host Marcus Lemonis offered a financial lifeline. In the upcoming show, he makes a bold promise to Gsell: “If you raise $25,000, I’ll match it.”

The attraction’s story spans two sites in New Jersey. Its first home in 2012 was Laurel Hill Park, Secaucus. Giant mechanical dinosaurs stood watch by the New Jersey Turnpike until 2015, when plans for a new school pushed them out.

The steel-and-foam giants found a new spot at Overpeck County Park in Leonia by 2016. That year marked growth with a second site opening in Derby, Kansas, which still draws crowds today.

COVID-19 struck hard. Though school trips picked up after lockdowns ended, guest numbers stayed too low to keep the gates open.

Visitors can still catch the final acts until early November. Summer hours run Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Aug. 31. Fall brings weekend-only hours from Sept. 6 to Nov. 9, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Watch the rescue unfold August 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, or catch it on Hulu the next day. The production team spent months studying the park’s operations before filming.

“I just want the park to be there,” Lemonis says in the episode. “Cause your heart would be broken if it wasn’t, and so would a million kids.”

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