Jan. 7, 2026 6:45p
(WGTD)---A collaboration between Carthage College and the City of Kenosha’s Dinosaur Discovery Museum will continue, even though a formal agreement has expired, much to the dismay of the Carthage professor who helped launch the effort two decades ago.
Thomas Carr and his students used space in the museum to store fossils that were collected during various digs over the years. They also staffed a lab that was used to examine them. The number of fossils—nearly 200,000—has stretched the museum’s storage capacity.
In a new arrangement with the school, Museum Director Kristine Camilli wants to open the lab in a supervised manner to the general public.
Speaking on WGTD’s Morning Show this week, Carr expressed concern. "Generally in natural history museums and paleontology departments when the public are allowed into a lab or collections-type spaces it's heavily supervised and it doesn't happen all that frequently," he said. "So we have concerns about the integrity of the collection and the safety of the fossils."
City Administrator John Morrissey maintains that the city will continue to be good stewards of the fossils as required by federal law. "We're well aware of the feds requirement for all of this," he said.
For now, Carthage-owned lab equipment has been moved back to the school while the fossils remain.
Carr says he’s looking for a new institution to serve as a repository for fossils collected during future digs.
In a statement, Carthage says it wants to continue to work with the city.
Morrissey said the city is open to renewed discussions with Carr. "If he comes back to the table and wants to work with us, we don't have an issue with that but he has been extremely uncooperative to this point," Morrissey said.
For his part, Carr accuses the city of acting unprofessionally.
In its statement, Carthage said it’s excited by the direction museum leaders want to take.
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