Marble Hill museum orders curator to remove dinosaur exhibits

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — The board of directors of the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History ordered Guy Darrough to remove his artifacts from the museum by Jan. 31.

Earlier, Darrough announced unless the entire museum board resigned, he would move his items out by Feb. 1.

In a letter dated Nov. 1, board president Robert Hrabik wrote: “We are asking you to remove your items from the Museum by 31 January 2018. If this date is not feasible, we are amenable to some leeway. The permanent exhibits that include Dina Mo on the second floor and ‘tale of the tail’ on the first floor shall remain.

“The graphics for all exhibits shall also remain, and all showcases with the exception of the ice age, sea shell, and blue cases shall remain.

“The board also asks that the Psittacoasaurus skeleton that Darrough removed a few years ago be returned along with any other museum property, and that the web page administration and DNS be transferred to the museum.”

Hrabik thanked Darrough in the letter, for “the work you have done to help develop the museum. I want you to know that your efforts and investments and the advantages and disadvantages of your possible departure were thoroughly vetted in numerous discussions, but our boards feel strongly that we have made every reasonable effort to continue the relationship with you and we regret that has proven impractical.”

Attempts to reach Darrough for comment were unsuccessful.

In previous correspondence with the board, obtained by the Banner Press, Darrough stated the financial status had reached “potential jeopardy level” and blamed the circumstances on poor promotion and other factors.

“The present board is solely responsible for this dysfunction,” he wrote. “They would like to put the blame elsewhere, but if you examine the facts, the big red arrow points directly to them. I do not believe these are bad folks, but they have not handled the museum in a proper manner.”

In a lengthy public letter issued to the Banner Press, the board said Darrough “never delivered on his promises to promote the museum outside of the museum’s website. Mr. Darrough compares visitor numbers to the museum in Marble Hill with numbers who have visited other venues where his work has been exhibited. A listing of those venues appears on his Lost World Studios website.

“Mr. Darrough has done an admirable job of attracting visitors to well-established venues located almost exclusively in large metropolitan areas such as Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Kansas City, Missouri; Salt Lake City, Utah; Naples, Florida; and St. Louis, Missouri. It was stated at the community forum on Sept. 28 that Marble Hill can draw on a population of over 6 million people within a 150-mile radius of Marble Hill; compare that with Mr. Darrough’s other exhibits which were located in metropolitan areas with populations within 30 miles, ranging from 140,000 to 9,655,000.”

The letter called Darrough a “phenomenal talent” but said his recent behavior was “abusive.”

“No board can expect its members, staff, volunteers, or the community to continue to endure disrespectful treatment. It may be that Mr. Darrough’s intention by publishing his recent letter of contempt would force the Museum to end its association with him. Whatever the intent, we wish him well in his future endeavors.”