Field Station: Dinosaurs reveals why Bergen County attraction likely closing

While the season that opened last weekend will likely be the last for Field Station: Dinosaurs, the family attraction in Overpeck County Park in Leonia, the owner said he is trying to reach an agreement with Bergen County on a new lease.

In December, Guy Gsell, executive producer of the attraction, which features about three dozen animatronic dinosaurs, with live shows, games and activities, announced that it was changing to a nonprofit.

But the timing of the change made it difficult to continue operating in Overpeck Park after this season, he said.

This is the last year of a five-year lease signed in 2021 with the county for 7 acres in the Henry Hoebel area of the park.

The for-profit company, Field Station: Dinosaurs, could not renew the lease because of the shift to a nonprofit model, and the nonprofit is still getting off the ground, Gsell said.

“The not-for-profit is not ready yet to go forward with the lease, and the county is not yet comfortable with the not-for-profit’s viability,” he said. “It’s a timing thing. We’re working at it, but it’s very hard. The prudent thing for us to do is to plan on closing.”

The agreement between the county and the attraction stipulated an annual rent of $75,000 to be paid to the county in monthly installments of $6,250 over the five-year lease. But according to public records, the last payment to the county from Field Station: Dinosaurs was in January 2022 for $31,740.50.

Gsell said the attraction was behind on payments due to COVID closures and other “extenuating circumstances,” but the company was always “in constant communication with the county.”

Derek Sands, the county spokesman, said officials are open to working with the nonprofit.

“The county has been informed that Field Station Dinosaurs, LLC will not be renewing their lease in November when it expires, but we understand there is a group of people in the community who have set up a not-for-profit and are hoping to continue the operation of the park,” he said. “The county administration is open to the idea but needs more information from the new entity before entering into lease negotiations.”

The exhibit was in Secaucus for four years before it lost its lease there and moved to Overpeck Park in 2016.

As the exhibit evolved over the years, it became more focused on educational programming and performances, Gsell said.

“We opened very much as a tourist attraction, and we’ve evolved into something else. What matters to us is teaching kids and their families,” he said.

If a new agreement cannot be reached before the end of the season in November, Field Station: Dinosaurs plans to continue as a nonprofit with programs in schools and collaborations with museums, Gsell said.

“I think we’ve had a great relationship with the Board of Commissioners and the county executive,” he said. “But they have a lot of due diligence to do. Their responsibility is to the people of Bergen County. We might be able to work something out, but we have to prepare for the worst.”

The animatronic dinosaurs would be sold, donated to a museum or moved to Field Station: Dinosaurs’ other location in Kansas.

When the nonprofit announcement was made in December, the owners were looking to raise $25,000 ahead of the park's May opening to help with costs associated with setting up the nonprofit. Now, it will likely need to raise three times that amount to be able to take on a new lease and other expenses, Gsell said.

“The good news is we’re open. We had a great opening weekend and audiences are loving it,” he said. “It’s when you pull back and start looking at navigating into the future, things become tricky.”