A dinosaur head sculpture thought lost to the halls of history reappeared at The Durango Herald offices last month, resurrecting a scandal that once shook Durango like thunderous footsteps of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex.
A benefactor delivered the sculpture along with newspaper articles dated 2014 through 2015 that documented the sculpture’s mysterious appearance and disappearance from a controversial rock art piece once perched in the median of the intersection of U.S. highways 550/160 in Durango – aka the DoubleTree intersection.
The benefactor – the mother of one child who along with several friends snatched the dinosaur head from atop the art piece called the Arc of History in 2014 – requested anonymity in the interest of preserving her daughter’s professional reputation.
She recovered the sculpture from storage where it was entombed for years like fossils trapped between rock layers.
It is almost as well preserved as a mosquito in a prehistoric piece of amber, with only small chips in the material betraying its age. White, pointed fangs line its jaws. Black reptilian slits for pupils contrast with yellow eyes. Mixed blacks, blues and greens bring its craftily textured skin to life.
“I thought, well, who broke the story? Who made the dinosaur head famous, but The Durango Herald?” the benefactor said. “And I just thought we should bring it back full circle to the Herald, and make it a community piece of art.”
Several people with connections to the dinosaur head said former Herald reporter Chase Olivarius-Mcallister was responsible for making the dinosaur head escapades famous.
Karen Zink, former owner of the dinosaur head, said it all started when the sculpture appeared on top of the Arc of History.
“The ugly rock art that was in the intersection of 160 and Camino del Rio,” she said.
The Arc of History was a controversial piece, she said, calling it “ugly as sin” and “not at all attractive.”
It was a series of slim brown rocks arranged vaguely in the shape of ... well, who knows? Some called it a rock shish kebab. An anonymous artist had the idea to place a dinosaur head atop the art piece, which Zink said many residents agreed was a marked improvement.
“It was so cool. Everyone in town just loved it. It was the thing,” she said.
Overnight, the once loathed artwork became the talk of the town. Soon after, however, a group of “mischievous teenagers” had the bright idea to steal the dinosaur head for a senior prank, she said.
Nobody knew who the culprits were, but there was a dinosaur bite-sized hole in their plan: the kidnappers sent photos of themselves wearing the dinosaur head to the Herald. Little did they know, a car belonging to one of their parents was visible in a photograph.
“I remember waking up early at 6 a.m. and seeing my parents’ car in the newspaper and just (thinking), ‘Oh crap. What am I going to do to remedy this?” one of the thieves said.
She is known publicly only as the alias Secret Dino Agent – the byline she used in a December 2014 article in The Animas Quill detailing the heist.
The group brought the dinosaur head – which they affectionately named Tyrone – to Durango Police Department where it was held in evidence storage.
The Tyrone-asaurus was eventually released to Studio &, which auctioned it off for $5,000 to none other than Karen Zink.
She said her husband Jerry wanted the sculpture and she was determined to get it.
“I’m coming home with that damn dino head, and I don’t care how much it costs him,” she said.
The dinosaur head appeared in the Snowdown Parade that January before it took up residence in a stairwell at Jerry’s business, StoneAge Inc., where it was surrounded by huge plants – a fitting home for a dinosaur, Karen said.
Eventually, she said, the couple had the idea to gift the sculpture to Secret Dino Agent’s family.
The sculpture is apparently a gift that keeps on giving. In December, the benefactor said, the original group of hooligans were called together at the benefactor’s household. They weren’t told what awaited them. But they gathered around a big box, and the dinosaur head was revealed.
Secret Dino Agent said the group marveled at the sculpture’s craftsmanship and reminisced about the good old days.
“It was just great to see those guys. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with all of them, so it was just a great chance for us to all see each other in our new stages of life,” Secret Dino Agent said.
Secret Dino Agent and her accomplices never faced repercussions from the authorities for their heinous crimes.
Her father recalled one officer saying that technically, removing the dinosaur head from the Arc of History wasn’t a crime – placing it there to begin with was.
“Kids will be kids, and it’s fun to test the waters of what’s legal and not legal and have some fun with it,” he said. “... Thank goodness we live in a society that allowed the kids to be kids.”
Like a raptor with a voracious appetite, what killed the dinosaurs has scratched at the back of Earth’s most brilliant minds for centuries. But the more pertinent question for Durango residents is who kidnapped one dinosaur in particular.
As Secret Dino Agent put it, the ambiguity is part of the legacy’s charm – except for those who are in the know, residents may never know who beheaded the statue.
While the dino head lives on, the Arc of History was decommissioned in summer 2015 after someone vandalized the piece to a point beyond repair.
“Jurassic Arc” was not the only persona applied to the artwork during its time in the limelight, however. At various points, it was decorated with a bridal veil, Styrofoam mini-arcs and a Chinese New Year dragon head, for example.
For the time being, the dino head is on display in the Herald’s lobby at 1275 Main Ave. Richard G. Ballantine, chairman of the board of Ballantine Communications Inc., the parent company of the Herald, invited residents to stop by for a close-up look.
“There is a lot of quirky creativity in this community, and Tyrone could find itself as a centerpiece on an unpredictable stage,” Ballantine said. “Send us your ideas at herald@durangoherald.com.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
