The Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology opened in Drumheller, Alberta in 1985. This ornate plaque at the entry to the museum in the entry vestibule reads as follows:
"[Coat of arms of the Province of Alberta]
TYRRELL
MUSEUM OF PALAEONTOLOGY
Officially opened
September 25, 1985
HONOURABLE PETER LOUGHEED
PREMIER OF ALBERTA
Honourable Tom W Chambers, MLA
Minister, Public Works, Supply and Services
Honourable Mary J. LeMessurier, MLA
Minister of Culture
L. M. Clark, MLA, Drumheller"
The Hon. Peter Lougheed was the Premier of Alberta from 1971-1985. He had been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from Calgary from 23 May 1967 to 28 Feb 1986.
From Wikipedia: (
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"Edgar Peter Lougheed PC CC AOE QC (/'l??hi?d/ LAW-heed; July 26, 1928 – September 13, 2012) was a Canadian lawyer and Progressive Conservative politician who served as the tenth premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, presiding over a period of reform and economic growth.
Born in Calgary, Alberta, Peter was the son of Edgar Donald Lougheed and Edna Alexandria Bauld and grandson of Canadian Senator Sir James Alexander Lougheed, a prominent Alberta businessman. Peter Lougheed attended the University of Alberta where he attained his Bachelor of Laws while playing football at the University of Alberta before joining the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Interprovincial Football Union for two seasons in 1949 and 1950. After graduating, he entered business and practised law in Calgary.
In 1965, he was elected leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, which held no seats in the legislature. He led the party back into the legislature in the 1967 provincial election as the leader of the Official Opposition, then elected as Premier with 49 of 75 seats in the 1971 election, defeating the Social Credit Party and ending the dynasty which had governed Alberta since 1935. Lougheed established a progressive conservative dynasty in the province that lasted until 2015, when the New Democratic Party won a majority government; at 43 years and 7 months it was the longest unbroken run in government for a political party in Canadian history. Lougheed led the Tories again to victory in 1975, 1979 and 1982, winning landslide majorities each time, with vote tallies of 57 to 63 percent of votes cast.
As premier, Lougheed furthered the development of the oil and gas resources, and started the Alberta Heritage Fund to ensure that the exploitation of non-renewable resources would be of long-term benefit to Alberta. He introduced the Alberta Bill of Rights. He quarrelled with Pierre Trudeau's federal Liberal government over its 1980 introduction of the National Energy Program. After hard bargaining, Lougheed and Trudeau eventually reached an agreement for energy revenue sharing in 1982. Calgary's bid to host the 1988 Winter Olympics was developed during Lougheed's terms. Alberta also experienced economic success and went through significant social reform under the Lougheed administration.
From 1996 to 2002, Lougheed served as Chancellor of Queen's University. He sat on the boards of a variety of organizations and corporations. In a 2012 edition of Policy Options, the Institute for Research on Public Policy named Lougheed the best Canadian premier of the last forty years."
And more on the Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology: (
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"The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology is Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the study of ancient life. In addition to featuring one of the world’s largest displays of dinosaurs, we offer a wide variety of creative, fun, and educational programs that bring the prehistoric past to life.
The Museum is operated by the Government of Alberta under the Ministry of Culture.
On August 12, 1884, Joseph Burr Tyrrell (TEER-uhl), a geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, found the 70-million-year-old skull of a carnivorous dinosaur near present-day Drumheller. Tyrrell’s find was named Albertosaurus sarcophagus (“flesh-eating lizard from Alberta”) in 1905 by American Museum of Natural History palaeontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.
So significant was Tyrrell’s discovery that when our Museum opened its doors to the public on September 25, 1985, it was named the Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. (The “royal” appellation was added in 1990.) Originally intended to serve primarily as a scientific facility, the plans soon changed to include a large public gallery and display area that attracts more than 430,000 visitors annually.
In addition to being a centre of excellence for palaeontology, the Royal Tyrrell Museum displays one of the world’s largest collections of dinosaurs, and has become world-renowned for engaging exhibits and public education programs."