Clinton Center to feature dinosaur exhibit

The Clinton Presidential Center next week will open a special exhibit on dinosaurs complete with 13 animatronic recreations of the Jurassic-period beasts.

"Dinosaurs Around the World" opens April 25 and runs through Oct. 18, though an early look will be offered at a free opening reception featuring a paleontologist who worked on the Jurassic Park movies.

The Little Rock museum said there's even a tie to its namesake since part of the exhibit will focus on four U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman — who championed preservation of "fossil-rich areas."

The big draw, though, may be the animatronics, which the Clinton Center described as "life-sized roaring, breathing dinosaurs." The center offered a glimpse of two of them in a video on Instagram, viewable at left, and a a photo on Twitter.

Crews on Wednesday were working to install the dinosaurs in a pair of galleries, one on the ground floor of the center that will include a triceratops and tyrannosaurus rex and a second on the third floor with an oviraptor, a velociraptor and several others. A realistic-looking herrerasaurus, meanwhile, was already mostly setup in the center's lobby, in front of the main door near a permanent display of Clinton's presidential limousine.

The free opening reception is set for 6 p.m. next Wednesday, though reservations are required. Paleontologist Jack Horner will speak about dinosaurs including why they "had shields, fins, spikes, crests, and other accoutrements." Horner served as a consultant on all three of the Jurassic Park films released so far as well as the next installment, Jurassic World, which will be released in June.