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Alco Parking and Carnegie Dinomite Days
The Children's Institute-9/03

The city of Pittsburgh took part in DinoMite Days, a prehistoric art exhibit presented by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, featuring 100 dinosaurs decorated by community organizations or individuals to be displayed throughout the city. Each dinosaur was purchased by a sponsor and decorated by theme. The sponsors also designated a nonprofit charity / organization to benefit from the money raised throughout the auction of the dinosaurs.

Merrill P. Stabile, a board member of The Children's Institute and owner of the Alco Parking Corporation, purchased The Institute's dinosaur. Our amazing kids helped bring the dinosaur to life and even gave it a name, "Wilson." The Carnegie dubbed it "Amazing Hands," because the dinosaur featured children's handprints, flowers, and clouds. The tagline that inspired the artwork was "In children's hands, amazing things will grow."

Wilson was on display from May through September across from the Alco Parking Lot on Penn and Seventh Avenue, downtown.

All dinosaurs will be auctioned off on October 18 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The following day there will be a "Community Day" for the public to see all the dinosaurs one last time before they move to their final destinations. Fifty percent of the money raised from the auction will go to the charity / organization and 50 percent goes to the museum to expand its dinosaur exhibits.