Prehistoric roaring routine at Covelli lately

YOUNGSTOWN

Some visitors from the Late Cretaceous period have been carrying on inside Covelli Centre for the past couple of weeks.

Few Valley residents know it, but the North American tour of Walking With Dinosaurs has booked the downtown arena for a three-week rehearsal period. Prehistoric roaring has become routine at the facility.

The tour begins in Cleveland where it will run July 9-13, and will also stop at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center July 30 to Aug. 3.

Covelli Centre is not on the tour, although it could be added if a second leg of the tour materializes. The show last came to Covelli in May 2010.

A hockey-rink sized arena with enough ceiling clearance to keep a brontosaurus from bonking his head was needed. The space also had to be available for three uninterrupted weeks, and be in this part of the country.

Covelli fit the bill.

“It’s not easy to find a place,” said Scott Faris, director of the arena show. “This is a luxury.”

Faris and his crew of radio-controlled “puppeteers,” dinosaur drivers and technical workers were in Covelli on Thursday afternoon, talking to reporters from throughout the region.

Walking With Dinosaurs is a big show and the tour requires 20 full-size tractor-trailers.

Rehearsing it is also a beast.

Read more about the show and how it's created in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.