Groundbreaking set for Hubbard Rhino Barn

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

A groundbreaking at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park will mark construction of a new 17,500-square-foot addition for the excavation and protection of many more buried fossils.

The event is set for 11 a.m. Thursday at the park near Royal in northeast Nebraska.

Plans for the project began in 2007 when the Theodore F. and Claire M. Hubbard Family Foundation of Omaha announced a $1.2 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation.

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Visitors can view the remains of camels and rhinos at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal. (LJS file)

Visitors can view the remains of camels and rhinos at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal. (LJS file)

The new enclosure will expand the excavation area by eight times and will enable paleontologists to discover more fossils and enhance the experiences for visitors. In recognition of the family’s support, the complex will be called the Hubbard Rhino Barn.

Ashfall is a joint project of the University of Nebraska State Museum and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. It contains skeletons of extinct rhinos, camels and horses in the volcanic ash that killed them 12 million years ago. It is a National Natural Landmark as designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

State Museum Director Priscilla Grew said the addition will allow for decades of excavation, expansion of the display of fossil skeletons and conservation of the state’s unique fossil resource.

“This magnificent gift will enable our paleontologists to uncover new fossil discoveries and will provide protection so that the fragile exposed area of the fossil bed can be enlarged by careful scientific excavation over the coming decades,” Grew said. “Visitors and school groups will be able to watch paleontologists at work on the fossils, sharing in the excitement and thrill of their discovery.”

The Hubbard Foundation also announced support for a new Discovery Pavilion at the park. The pavilion will be used to process and research the many smaller fossils at the site and to collect fossils found during construction of the Hubbard Rhino Barn.

Completion of the Rhino Barn is expected in December; a public grand opening will be in the spring.

To help recognize the fossil discoveries in Nebraska, the U-Haul Co. announced its release of 2,200 new 10- and 14-foot moving vans that will feature Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. U-Haul will unveil its Nebraska SuperGraphic with an image of a rhinoceros at the groundbreaking ceremony for Hubbard Rhino Barn.

Claire Hubbard, her husband, Ted Hubbard Sr., who died in 1995, and their daughter, Anne Hubbard, and son, Ted Hubbard Jr., and his wife, Colleen Hubbard, all of Omaha, are longtime donors to the University of Nebraska.

In addition to recent gifts, the family’s foundation established a paleontology education fund for the NU State Museum. The fund has enabled the university to create education kits used in classrooms across the state to teach children about the ancient elephants of Nebraska.