The Spinosaurus behind Sarah de Heer and Ian Moore is made of foam pieces sent to New Zealand from Kuala Lumpur. Photo / Jesse King
The Spinosaurus behind Sarah de Heer and Ian Moore is made of foam pieces sent to New Zealand from Kuala Lumpur. Photo / Jesse King
Who remembers being introduced to dinosaurs as a child?
The majority of us discovered the mostly gigantic and deadly looking creatures at school and were enthralled at the prospect of studying them.
However, that time usually passes and we pick up other interests, but the same cannot be said forIan Moore.
Not only has Moore maintained his passion for the reptiles that existed millions of years ago, but he lives among them.
The Dinosaur House is expected to open on September 28 and will feature approximately 100 exhibits including this Deinonychus display. Photo / Jesse King.
"I had dinosaurs when I was kid and I did dinosaur animation," Moore says.
"I've always wanted to create a dinosaur museum. Just being a normal person, I couldn't imagine ever being able to build one, but here we are."
Moore has been building his dream project, The Dinosaur House, with his partner Sarah de Heer since moving from Auckland to Raetihi about seven years ago.
It is based on Seddon St in the former County Council building, a category two historic place, and is due to open on September 28.
Moore says the first room in the museum was inspired by many palaeontologists starting out with a love of dinosaur movies.
"They see a dinosaur on TV and go 'whoa, it's a monster', but it's not a monster because it lived and it's real," he says.
Sarah de Heer and Ian Moore moved to Raetihi's former County Council Building about seven years ago and began working on their museum. Photo / Jesse King
"It has the mythology of looking like a special effects monster, because they just look so brilliant. They dwarf us and make us look so insignificant."
Inside the room are displays featuring dinosaur models, banners of information and movie posters, including one for Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic, Jurassic Park.
Another poster features a scene from the film and has been signed by cast members Sir Richard Attenborough, Laura Dern and Sam Neill.
One of the costumes worn by Neill on set is also displayed in the room.
"The costume is from Premier Props who work for Universal Studios. When they are having a big clean out, they do a massive worldwide auction.
"It just happened to be the right time and I was in the right place and I paid stupid amounts of money for it."
The couple now have about 100 exhibits on display, with more due to arrive before the school holidays begin.
They have had to create their museum on a budget, purchasing one-off dinosaurs month-to-month and receiving help from film distributors.
Distributors either heavily reduced the fees for rights to their films or removed them altogether, so that The Dinosaur House can air them.
Almost every room has something playing in it and, for now, the museum cinema will feature the 2007 film Dinosaurs Alive.
The main attractions at the museum might be the impressively large displays of dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Spinosaurus.
They came from Kuala Lumpur-based company Boonz and look like they are made of something heavy, but that is not the case.
"It's just foam," Moore said.
"They cut them into pieces like a big jigsaw and we put them together.
"We can get it through the post in little packages so we don't have to have a container and don't have to pay any extra money."
The museum also features a games room and a store selling merchandise.
All going well, the couple plan on filling their backyard with dinosaurs too. They would be fibreglass or animatronic and people could take pictures with them.
The Dinosaur House is in the final stages of gaining consent and will be open from 9am-3pm Monday to Friday and 10am-5pm Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets for people under 16 will be $7, adults $10 and a family package for two adults and two children will be $30.
