City of Columbus find more ways to bring fossil park in Propst Park
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – City leaders and tourism officials are always looking for ways to attract more visitors.
In Columbus, a relatively new attraction is beginning to draw attention.
The Dr. John “Jack” Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park is utilizing recent grant funding to offer outdoor activities and enhance education about the prehistoric past of the area.
Grant money to make improvements to Columbus’s Propst Park will help residents and visitors alike dig into the region’s history.
City Grant Writer Susan Wilder said the funding is vital to finishing the Jack Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park.
“We have gotten a lot of experts from the state and Mississippi State to work with us on it, so there’s been a big support for it by a lot of people,” Wilder said.
A fundraiser will be held at the beginning of 2026 to raise money to commission a unique dinosaur sculpture.
Other sculptures and pieces have already been made for the fossil park.
“This is a scale model of how she would appear in life, hand-sculpted,” Rick Spears, retired exhibit designer, said. “I’ve also brought a life-size Appalachiosaurus. Remains have been found here in the park, so it all kind of ties together.”
“Anytime we can bring people to our area, it is a great thing, tourism matches dollars and puts back what we can spend in our parts,” Mayor Stephen Jones said. “So, it plays hand and hand, and the way I hear these fossils they travel. They will travel from all over.”
The city plans on having a soft opening in mid to late 2026.
“It’s going to bring a lot of people. Geo-tourism, there are a lot of people who travel across the country to do this foster hunting or rock collecting,” Wilder said. “So that will be big to the economy, but also the educational value just can’t be measured.”
The fossil park have received more than $20,000 in grants as part of the tourism project.
