All Photos by Danielle D’Aquila
State and local dignitaries were treated to a preview of Rowan University’s Edelman Fossil Park & Museum in Mantua on Thursday when the school and the creators of the project hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony ahead of the official opening of the facility later this month.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was among those in attendance, along with former State Senate President Steve Sweeney, State Sen. John Burzichelli and many local government officials and Rowan University leaders.
“This ceremony represents so much more than the opening of this magnificent new building,” Murphy said. “It represents an evolution in Rowan’s enduring commitment to educate and empower the people of New Jersey along with every visitor who will soon walk through the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum.”
Murphy thanked all those that made the museum’s creation possible, singling out the $25 million donation from Jean and Ric Edelman that helped fund the project.
“I’m not aware in the past decade of a whole lot of gifts to any institution of any kind in New Jersey that comes close to what you all have done for Rowan,” Murphy said in addressing the Edelmans.
Also speaking during the ceremony was the fossil park’s founder, Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, who Murphy referred to as “the George Washington” of the project. Lacovara thanked the leadership at Rowan, and in particular school President Dr. Ali Houshmand, for making the museum a reality.
“I began to dream about this project way back in 2007. I tried this way and that way and really never got much traction,” Lacovara said.
But it was after a groundbreaking ceremony for a new engineering building at Rowan in 2013 when things began to take shape.
Rowan’s Provost Anthony Lowman was a classmate of Lacovara’s when they both attended the school as students. While introducing Lacovara to the speaker’s podium, he recounted that after a quick meetup between Lacovara, Houshmand and himself at that groundbreaking, the university president called him at around 6 the next morning to discuss figuring out a way to bring Lacovara to Rowan.
Lacovara added to that story, detailing the meeting that would start them all down the path that lead to the day’s ribbon cutting.
“We had breakfast at Angelo’s Diner in Glassboro, because it’s New Jersey and that’s how you get things done here,” Lacovara said of the follow-up meeting with Houshmand that lead to him coming to Rowan and ultimately the creation of the fossil park. “And he started to dream with me.”
Lacovara also used his appearance to thank the Edelman’s for bringing the project to life.
“This project, this beautiful museum, would not have come to be without their incredible generosity,” Lacovara said. “Yes they gave us a transformative financial gift, but they gave us something else of even greater value, and that is that they believed in us.
“They believed in Rowan University. They believed in this community. They believed in this project. They believed in me. The contributions that they have made will resonate through the ages.”
Rowan University’s Edelman Fossil Park & Museum officially opens Saturday, March 29 and tickets and memberships are already on sale.
Stay tuned for much more of our coverage of the Fossil Park and its impact on South Jersey coming soon in print and online.
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