A Dinosaur in the Garden

A young, healthy stegosaurus attacked the Children’s Museum at La Habra on Wednesday, but the beast was of a different, friendlier breed: It was a plant.

A crane lowered the 12-foot-long, 8-foot-tall Hollywood juniper topiary into its spot as the centerpiece of the museum’s new Dinosaur Trackway and Garden.

The $42,000 outdoor exhibit, made possible with the city’s help, should be complete by mid-January, said Melissa Banning, assistant museum director. When finished, the display will include a trail of dinosaur footprints replicated from ones identified in New Mexico in 1993, a nest filled with simulated dinosaur eggs and vegetation characteristic of the dinosaur age.

“It took four years of dreaming and all of 1998 to make this happen,” said Robin Young, the project’s visionary and a museum board member. “We’re very excited.”

Children also were excited, as their faces showed as they restlessly awaited the creature’s arrival.

“The dinosaur is going to come,” squealed 2 1/2-year-old Shannon O’Neill, who came with her mom just to see her favorite creature.

Upcoming museum activities will include an indoor exhibit, sedimentary layer display, puppet shows and scavenger hunts--all of which will be highly interactive. And rather than getting a lecture on dinosaurs, children will have to guess which footprints belong to which species.

“We don’t intend to give children all the answers,” Young said. “The fun is in the mystery.”

Admission to the museum, 301 S. Euclid St., is $4; youngsters under 2 are admitted free. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Group tours are available weekdays. Information: (562) 905-9793.