Rex, the Spruce Street Tyrannosaurus

(Photo credit: Steven Magner, The Leavenworth Times)

“Carl Theel, owner of Theel Manufacturing and Amusement, has been wanting to build it for 10 years. He is finally doing it.” – The Leavenworth Times, June 9, 1977

“It” is Rex, the 25-foot tyrannosaurus statue that still stands sentry over the 800 block of Spruce Street. He once was the mascot of Kiddieland, Carl Theel’s small children’s amusement park, which operated from 1948 to 1998. The man caught in Rex’s jaws in the photo is identified as Leavenworth resident Louis James, who “had to climb inside the head of the animal to fasten wire mesh to steel reinforcement bars” during its construction.

After Kiddieland closed and was demolished to make way for new businesses, Rex remained, a silly but still prized local landmark. Residents often pitch in to help patch, paint or take on other repair jobs. When vandals threw fireworks in Rex’s mouth and destroyed his head in the 1990s, there was public outcry about speedy repairs. His new head is protected by a wire mesh cover, so no more chomping on explosives.

Rex is now mascot of its new neighbor, Crown Lanes Bowling Alley (834 Spruce St.), which proudly proclaims itself “home of the green dinosaur” and sells t-shirts with a bowling Rex logo.