Museum of Jurassic Technology reopens after escaping destruction in fire

In today’s edition of "Don’t take L.A.’s cultural institutions for granted"...

Culver City’s Museum of Jurassic Technology has for decades been beloved for its surreal showcases of esoteric artifacts and natural history, like a rain forest-dwelling ant that exhibits zombie like behavior after it’s infected by a particular fungus spore.

In July, the museum and all of its irreplaceable curios came within minutes of being lost forever. After months of restoration, the quirky L.A. institution has finally reopened.

‘A place of mysterious inquiry’

Founded by artist and filmmaker David Wilson, the Museum of Jurassic Technology has had a permanent home on Venice Boulevard in Culver City since 1988.

People love the place for its bizarre exhibits, some of which blur the lines between fact and fiction and have you questioning what’s real or not.

Museum-goer Anthony Loyd probably said it best when he was interviewed by author Lawrence Weschler for this NPR story back in 1996:

“This place has always been a very pulling force for me. And even some other people in the neighborhood. It’s always been a place of mysterious inquiry, you could say, you know. People talk about it. Nobody really knows what’s in here. But we know that it’s something worth being known about, you know.”

The museum has hosted many surreal experiences over the years, including tiny sculptures you need magnification to see and a portrait gallery of Soviet-era space dogs.

But on the night of July 8, all of it was almost lost forever.

“It was an extraordinary event, actually,” Wilson told LAist.

Wilson said both he and his son-in-law live very close by and started trouncing the fire with extinguishers.

“I made it to the front and there was a tower of flame like 8 feet tall just lapping voraciously,” Wilson recounted.

Miraculously, Wilson said, only some replaceable items from the gift shop were lost. He said officials told him that if the fire had gone just a minute longer, the museum would have been lost.

The cause of the fire is considered undetermined, an LAFD spokesperson told LAist, and there is no active investigation.

Thanks to a dozen or so volunteers, Wilson says the museum re-opened Aug. 7. And he’s looking forward to bringing people back into his dream-like world.

“We feel that we are — through whatever good grace — able to offer people something that people need, enjoy and appreciate. And to have lost the ability to do that... that would be the big loss,” Wilson said.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is open Thursday through Sunday and online reservations are required. More information on their website.