I remember from my childhood a giant Triceratops tucked under the cool shadows of the Interstate behind the Kentucky Science Center lurking in the parking lot along the Ohio River. Years later, I drove down to see it and it had vanished. Did it wash away in a flood? Did it come to life and walk over to Indiana or did I just imagine the whole thing? My memory is suspect and I have been known to “remember” things that only existed in my imagination. Like I swear there was a cartoon about a “Rubik’s Cube” that walked and talked and flew around but everyone looks at me like I’m crazy when I bring it up.

I was sad that this mysterious iconic memory from my childhood was in danger of becoming extinct and may not have even been real. Years later, while driving around the obscure blocks of downtown Louisville near the west end looking for paintings from a local street artist I was obsessed with at the time, I saw it! There it was, that giant fiberglass Triceratops inexplicably standing in a field next to a giant warehouse. I drove past the gates to take a closer look and sure enough it was the one. There were some warehouse employees on a smoke break giving me the stink eye so I snapped a photo and high-tailed it out of there.

I would return many times, drive by it to show friends and even submitted it as a point of interest to Roadside America in 2013. I was perplexed as to why it was at that old warehouse way back off 15th street and wished it could be in a place where it could enjoy the attention and admiration it deserved. I was thrilled to learn that the efforts of a local group “Operation CAR LOT (Community Action Rescue of Louisville’s Own Triceratops)” to restore and relocate the Triceratops have been successful!

The name “Lottie” is derived from Louisville’s Own Triceratops and by virtue of her being in that parking lot for many years. Lottie was not born in Louisville, however, she was created as one of 9 giant dinosaur sculptures for Sinclair Oil’s “Dinoland” exhibit at the New York World’s Fair in 1964.

Along with her other 8 dinosaur pals, Lottie hit the road in 1965 after the fair on a flatbed truck showing up at mall parking lots and fairgrounds across the country. After offering the collection to the Smithsonian Institute and it being declined, Sinclair donated the dinosaurs to various cities including Milwaukee, Chicago and Harper’s Corner, Utah among others. Louisville was given the Triceratops whose first Kentucky home was at the Louisville Zoo in the early 70s before making its way to the Science Center parking lot in the 80s.

Lottie is currently in Southern Indiana being restored with a makeover budget of over $50,000 courtesy of the Science Center. She will return to the Kentucky Science Center soon who is currently hosting a naming contest for a dinosaur that already has a name. Thank you to the folks out there that fought to bring Lottie back to her former glory and have her returned to a spot where many more can behold her magnificence. I would think these deeds alone would qualify you for a Kentucky Colonel nomination.