Dixie The Dinosaur Coming Back To Dixon

DIXON (CBS13) — A popular roadside attraction may soon be brought back to life.

"Everybody looked for Dixie when they came into town and Dixie was one day gone," said Carol Pruett, Chief administrator for the Dixon Chamber of Commerce.

The dinosaur has been the talk of the town.

"I would love Dixie to come back," one woman said.

The city is getting ready to welcome home an old friend, we mean really old, from the Jurassic period.

In the '90s Dixie the dinosaur was hard to miss. The 50-foot tall Brachiosaurus sculpture towered over Interstate 80. It was a marketing tool for the convenience store that was seen by thousands driving by each day.

But in 1998, Dixie made a dramatic departure and was flown away by helicopter after a county zoning dispute forced her to go.

"It was sad when Dixie left," said Pruitt.

"It's like one day she was there and one day she was not and nobody knew why," said another longtime resident.

"It was almost like a family member disappeared on us," said Mayor Thom Bogue of Dixon.

She spent some time in Benicia and was then disassembled, but last week her owner offered to sell her to the city.

And In a close three to two vote, the Council approved spending $25,000 to purchase the five-story-tall dino.

"People were saying, 'Mayor, are you going to do something about this and get Dixie back? Because if you are I'll donate flatbed trucks, I'll donate a crane,'" Bogue said.

She'll need to be welded back together and a fresh coat of paint, but the mayor says it's worth the cost.

"We have a main attraction and an icon for our city to pull in tourism dollars, which ultimately is a boost of revenue for the city," he said.

Many hope they'll soon see this dinosaur soaring once again over the Dixon skyline.

"Dixie is a part of Dixon and she should come back," one resident said.

There are some people however who think it's a big waste of money, which is why the city has promised to raise expenses to actually get the purchase home.

Since she is now is several pieces, she'll have to be trucked back to Dixon, which is going to be expensive.

The city is now looking for help to launch fundraising efforts to bring Dixie out of extinction.