INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Residents and tourists who want to learn about Vero’s ancient history will no longer have to visit multiple locations to view all the fossils unearthed at the Old Vero Man site as, at least for the next year, the entire collection will soon be available at County Administration Building A.
Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee member Bill Oufiero said the ultimate goal is to raise enough money to establish a museum to house the artifacts found in Vero Beach and Gifford, but he estimated that reality is roughly 10 years off.
In the meantime, Oufiero told the County Commission that it’s the committee’s wish to consolidate the displays that are now at various government buildings and libraries into a cluster of display cases on the north end of the second floor of the County Administration Building A, not far from the executive offices.
The Old Vero Ice Age Sites group currently has one educational display of archaeological finds in that spot, and will be purchasing and adding more display cases.
“We feel that the more people that see this, become aware of what’s really going on here,” Oufiero said, the better luck the committee will have at garnering financial support for the museum because the public will see the potential of a facility dedicated to the Old Vero Ice Age project.
Commissioner Joe Flescher commented that he expected the group to have the dollars to build a museum “much quicker than 10 years.”
The committee is also working to forge partnerships with other groups, and is currently working with the DNA lab at the Florida Atlantic University-Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution to test some of the human and mammal bones found on the site.
Joe Baird said the county works with the Cultural Council to have art displays there and that he thought the Vero Ice Age artifacts would work well with the rotating art exhibits.
County Attorney Dylan Reingold was directed to draw up an informal agreement with the Old Vero Ice Age group allowing them to use the display site for one year with an option to renew for a second year.
For more information about the Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee, go to www.oviasc.org.