Back from extinction

HENDERSON -- As one drives along the outside perimeter, a six-strand cable fence is marked with a large sign that warns of high voltage. The sign and fence together invoke a somewhat terrifying fear rising from one’s gut, a feeling which makes one wonder what exactly lies beyond that electrically-charged boundary.
It doesn’t take very long for a visitor to figure out what lurks amongst the lush vegetation, because once inside the visitor will hear the distinctive roar echoing throughout the park. And not long after that, the visitor will find oneself standing among some of the most feared predators the world has ever seen, dinosaurs.
Unlike the visitors of the blockbuster film series “Jurassic Park,” there is no threat of being eaten in this park. That’s because the dinosaurs at Prehistoric Park are far more friendly, and educational.
“It is neat what we are accomplishing here,” park owner Lee Venable said. “There is nothing in the state that is similar to this project.”
Prehistoric Park is located behind Cajun Palms RV Resort in St. Martin Parish. The park consists of 12 acres of a naturally wooded area (which provides plenty of shade) with winding concrete paths which allows visitors to experience 23 dinosaur exhibits. There is a life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex, a three-story tall Brontosaurus, a Stegosaurus family and of course a few menacing Velociraptors are just a few of the life-like dinosaur replicas, and a few animatronic ones, visitors can experience on a visit to the park.
The replicas are made of steel and fiberglass and were made overseas.
“I wanted it as realistic as possible,” Venable said. “I did my research and all the stationary dinosaurs came from the Philippines. They were first shipped by barge from the Philippines to Los Angeles. Then they were shipped by train to New Orleans and then trucked to Henderson.”
The project, which cost nearly half a million dollars, took 13 months from start to finish. The park held its’ grand opening in November of last year.
The 58-year-old Venable, who built and owns Cajun Palms, got the idea to build Prehistoric Park during a trip to Florida.
“After I built Cajun Palms I traveled throughout the country and I came across a place in Florida,” Venable said. “It was something similar to what we have here. I thought about bringing it to south Louisiana and raising it to my own standards.”
Part of those standards was making the park as kid-friendly as possible. Each exhibit has its own plaque which details facts about the dinosaurs. Like what time period does the dino hail from, how big did the beast get, what their diet was and intelligence.
The park also places a handful of signs, at kid eye level, that tell jokes.
There is one that asks the question,” Why can’t you hear the Pterosaur peeing? Answer: Because the “P” is silent.”
Or a sign that reads, “Please do not feed the dinosaurs your brother or sister.”
The park also features a gift shop, in case you need to pick up a plush version of a dinosaur, a sand box for kids to discover dino bones and also has a playground and covered patio area for birthday parties.
That approach of making the park kid-friendly for young paleontologists impressed Suzanne Kendricks of Echo, Louisiana, who visited the park with her family, including her one-year-old granddaughter.
“The park is not only educational but is also a lot of fun for kids of all ages and adults as well,” Kendricks said. “It is a nice way to have some good family time without breaking the bank.”
Making the park a kid-friendly destination is exactly what Venable had planned when he broke ground in 2013.
“We are very pleased with the turnout so far,” Venable said. “The general public has embraced it. Our hope is that the area’s school systems would use it as an educational field trip. In May along we had more than 50 schools schedule field trips. Due to the heavy rains we had we only could accommodate 19 of them but the interest is there.”
Even though the park is yet to celebrate its one-year anniversary, Venable is already expanding the property. Plans for adding more dinosaurs and expanding the playground area are in the works, as is building a new arcade and go-kart track next door.
“We recently broke ground on four more entertainment party rooms,” Venable said. “I am listening to what the teachers want. We are planning to build a movie theater to show educational and documentary films to make even more of a experience for the kids.”
That will surely mean that many more people will want to see what lies behind the high-voltage fence.