Cabazon Dinosaurs | |
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General information | |
Architectural style | Novelty architecture |
Town or city | Cabazon, California |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 33°55′13″N 116°46′22″W / 33.92028°N 116.77278°W |
Construction started | 1964 (Dinny) / 1981 (Mr. Rex) |
Completed | 1975 (Dinny) / 1986 (Mr. Rex) |
Cost | $300,000 (Dinny) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Claude K. Bell |
Structural engineer | Gerald Hufstetler |
Cabazon Dinosaurs, formerly Claude Bell's Dinosaurs, is a roadside attraction in Cabazon, California, featuring two enormous, steel-and-concrete dinosaurs named Dinny the Dinosaur and Mr. Rex. Located just west of Palm Springs, the 150-foot-long (46 m) Brontosaurus and the 65-foot-tall (20 m) Tyrannosaurus rex are visible from the freeway to travelers passing by on Southern California's Interstate 10.[1] The roadside dinosaurs are best known for their appearance in the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985).[2]
Sculptor and theme park artist Claude Bell began construction of the dinosaurs in 1964 with the goal of attracting more customers to his nearby restaurant, the Wheel Inn (open from 1958 to 2013). Dinny and Mr. Rex were completed in 1975 and 1986, respectively.[3] Bell died in 1988 at age 91 and his family sold the property in the mid-1990s.[4] The new ownership turned the attraction into a roadside creationist museum in 2005, but creationist material has since been removed.[5][6]