Cincy Obscura: Behind the Scenes at the Geier Collections & Research Center

Cincinnati’s attic is getting really crowded. As the $212.7 million renovation works magic on Union Terminal, expect to see some exhibits temporarily outsourced to spots such as the airport. But much will be stored at the Museum Center’s 70,000-square-foot Geier Center on West Fifth Street. If space is at a premium, why keep things that the public never sees? Why have thousands of frogs in ethanol? Because technology makes it possible to keep oceans of DNA in a single freezer, but scientists still need specimens to study.

Photograph by Ryan Kurtz

Photograph by Ryan Kurtz

And that takes up a lot of room. Just ask curator Glenn Storrs, who led the dig that unearthed the 60-foot-long dinosaur now being painstakingly mounted at the Geier Center.

Photograph by Ryan Kurtz

Unlike the jarred rattlesnakes and copperheads, the dino will be center stage when the renovations are complete in two years. Storrs hopes to put the finishing touches on it in public, so everyone can watch. “Where,” he says, “is still to be determined.”