City declines dinosaur bone donation
The City Executive Council approved a working group's recommendation to decline a donation from Leap Lab, which offered Reykjavík City a portion of a dinosaur skeleton found in Wyoming. The City established the working group in 2023 to evaluate the costs and conditions of accepting the donation.
The donation consisted of 36 dinosaur bones and bone fragments, with 17 suitable for assembling a composite 3D-printed skeleton. The donation required a public exhibit of the specimens in Reykjavík to promote scientific literacy.
The working group found that while such an exhibition offered significant educational value, accepting the donation would require a large-scale, high-quality display with interactive elements, specialized space, and ongoing operational support. Such a project would bring substantial costs and numerous uncertainties regarding the exhibit itself, its presentation, a suitable venue, and daily operations.
The working group also noted that dinosaurs have no direct connection to Iceland's natural history or the core work of the Reykjavík City administration. Hosting such an exhibit therefore falls outside the City's traditional responsibilities. Circumstances have also changed, as Leap Lab plans to offer a comparable donation to Perlan, which includes dinosaur bones and a 3D model.
Based on these factors, the working group recommended declining the donation, and the City Executive Council has now granted its approval. Previous
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