The green dinosaurs that vanished in May from a local Sinclair gas station didn’t get kidnapped or go extinct.

“They’re on vacation in Jurassic Park,” jokes station owner Benny Anoosh Broumand.

Another of the signs Broumand had made for the station. Photo by Roy Rivenburg

Actually, the three dinosaur statues are camping in a Fullerton backyard while their boss, Broumand, builds an elaborate waterfall landscape for them at his business. This is a second attempt at the project; the first try, which began taking shape last fall, was halted and demolished in January, after city officials cited Broumand for constructing a dinosaur domicile without a permit. Undeterred, he hired a new contractor, drew up architectural plans that won city approval in May, and started again.

Located at the northeast corner of Yorba Linda Boulevard and Placentia Avenue, the apatosaurus habitat will feature a faux rock wall that cascades water into a small pond with a recycling pump. At night, spotlights will illuminate the scene and its prehistoric residents. However, progress has been slow. Three months in, the half-finished waterfall is a jumble of concrete, plastic pipes and rebar, surrounded by wood planks and construction debris.

City inspectors have visited to check the project’s plumbing and electrical systems, but building permit applications submitted in mid-July are still being reviewed, according to the city manager’s office. Broumand praises Fullerton officials for helping him navigate the permit process and for their focus on safety, such as making sure the spotlights won’t shine into the eyes of passing motorists.

If all goes according to plan, he hopes to host a welcome-back-dinosaurs party at the station by mid-September, but concedes that timeline may be overly optimistic. In the end, Broumand figures to spend at least $30,000 on the waterfall backdrop, but says the cost is worth it because his two sons – ages 8 and 11 – love “Toy Story” and the Sinclair-esque dinosaur from the movie’s fictional Dinoco gas station.

Benny Anoosh Broumand, the station owner, took the photo. It’s from December 2024, when the dinosaurs were dressed up for Christmas.

The real Sinclair Oil mascot dates back to 1933, when it debuted at the Chicago World’s Fair. The apatosaurus gained more fame in the 1960s as a balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Fiberglass statues were next, springing up at various filling stations. Sinclair’s Dallas headquarters encourages franchise owners to dress up their dinosaurs for Halloween and other holidays. Broumand does that, but has also added a couple of year-round twists to the dinosaur theme.

To make sure his big dinosaur won’t get lonesome, he bought two “babies” online (although they’re a different species called brachiosaurus) and painted them Sinclair green. He also had a print shop create a pair of signs that are now posted along the station’s perimeter. One cautions “Dinosaur Crossing” and shows an apatosaurus silhouette. The other declares that Broumand’s gasoline outpost is a “Velociraptor Free Workplace” and has tallied “25,915,376,552 days since the last incident.”

The waterfall habitat promises to be the icing on this modern Mesozoic cake.

“I’m just having fun,” Broumand says.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the waterfall project was halted in January. It was actually halted by the city in December, then the owner demolished the unfinished wall in January.

Photo by Roy Rivenburg