Charred and Twisted Remains of Dinosaur Art Installation Taken Away

This morning, a local team of demolition experts dismantled the last vestiges of the huge Luna Park dinosaur sculpture that was destroyed by fire at the beginning of this month.  The remaining metal parts, including much of the tail and the body were finally chopped up and taken away by early this afternoon.  The huge dinosaur model had been on display at Southsea Common (Portsmouth, England), but the structure was raised to the ground in the fire.

Luna Park Dinosaur Sculpture

A small crowd of onlookers had gathered to watch the demolition team carefully pulling down the rest of the 53 foot long structure.  Part of the body was still off the ground but ropes were attached to a vehicle and the last of the upright parts of this once enormous art installation came crashing down.

It is a sad end for the giant dinosaur sculpture, it was due to go on a short UK tour this week, but the fire, which virtually destroyed it has put paid to that.  At first, arson was suspected, perhaps a student prank during freshers week that went wrong, but an electrical fault in the animal’s underbelly lighting caused by bad weather seems the most likely reason for the blaze.

For the past two weeks or so, the remains of the Ultrasauros dinosaur model had been protected by a metal security fence.  The fence had been built to help protect passers by should any of the structure fall to the ground and to aid the police investigators in their work.  The bulk of the scrap metal and debris has now been removed, leaving just a few pieces awaiting collection.

For models and replicas of sauropod dinosaurs, take a look at the models section of the Everything Dinosaur website: Dinosaur Models and Figures.