Veterans Memorial developer adds Dinosaur Museum, Haunted House

The Dinosaur Museum opened June 29, and the Haunted House opened July 4, according to their developer, Fred Hoppe.

Hoppe said his companies, Dinosaur Museum Inc., of which he is a majority shareholder, and Haunted House Inc., which he wholly owns, have invested $4.5 million in props for the 24,000 square-foot building. Ozark Mountain Bank of Branson financed the ventures, and Hoppe is leasing the facility from J.W. Franklin Co.

Hoppe also is the owner and developer of Branson’s Veterans Memorial Museum and creator of the 70-foot Veterans Memorial Sculpture displayed inside.

A resident of Lincoln, Neb., Hoppe is the creator and majority shareholder of the Dinosaur Walk Museums in New York, Minnesota, Tennessee and Alberta, Canada.

Branson’s dinosaur/haunted house complex is divided equally between the two operations with a shared lobby and mirror maze. The Dinosaur Museum contains 50 life-size dinosaurs “as they appeared when they roamed the earth,” Hoppe said. “They are done by paleo-artists who copied off the actual (dinosaur) skeletons.”

The models range from a 1-foot micro-Rraptor to a 42-foot tyrannosaurus rex that stands about two stories high. The museum also features a learning center, fossil exhibit, birthday party area and gift shop.

While the Dinosaur Museum is educational in nature, the Haunted House is completely entertainment, Hoppe said.

“We have two cemeteries, three crypts, a castle and an insane asylum,” he said.

There is also a Hall of Monsters with animated monsters up to 12 feet tall.

“This is my first haunted house,” Hoppe said.

“We built half the props. We bought the others from another haunted house in Salt Lake City.”

Hoppe said he worked with John Merk who owns XtremeCreators in Eastlake, Ohio, and specializes in animated props. Tom Treat of Treat Architects PC in Branson served as the architect of the Dinosaur Museum and Haunted House complex.

Hoppe said Tom Tillis, of Branson, was the project manager for opening the complex and will manage the Haunted House.

The Haunted House employs 12, including actors, while the Dinosaur Museum has eight employees. Both attractions are open 9 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.