Animalia has been dealing with problems of scale since the very beginning. There have been Animalians that were substantially bigger than humans, such as bears and horses, that needed sturdier furniture but could otherwise fit into human society relatively easily. There were Animalians based on bigger species, like elephants, giraffes, and orcas, that require more specialized accommodations and couldn't share as much space with humans and smaller Animalians. For a long while, people had thought that was the upper limit.
It wasn't until Heather turned herself into a Syntixisaurus rex that people even thought that dinosaur Animalians were possible. Granted, the scientists at Horizon Labs first needed to identify the atavistic gene that causes 'snake heart' first. But now more and more people were joining Project Mesozoic, or as it was more popularly called, Project Dinotopia. But as more people became Dinotopians, it became clear there would be a housing problem. Dinosaurs were the largest animals to ever walk the earth, and while even the sauropods didn't get that gigantic, they were far larger than the average Animalian and having too many in one place was creating complications.
So before long, there were plans to get the Dinotopians their own colony. They had already gotten Skull Island, but it had more limited space and was mostly meant for the okeanosaurs (an unofficial, informal term to describe marine reptiles from the Mesozoic era). For the colony that was meant for most of the Dinotopians, Animalia has acquired land at Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose, Texas. It took most of a year to construct the buildings to 'standard' Dinotopian scale. But finally the new Dinosaur City was ready for business, just in time for the start of the 2019 IAC.
Not everyone was present at Dinosaur City, considering the IAC was starting in Animalia. Not even all the Dinotopians were there. For instance, Heather and Regina were still in Lyre for the inauguration match for the Mesozoic Fight Club. But everyone could watch on the big screen at Claw Coliseum. The mayor of Glen Rose was standing at the gates of Dinosaur City, which were currently closed. There was a large red ribbon in front of the gates and the mayor was holding a giant pair of scissors. "My fellow Texans," said the mayor, "We ain't just welcomin' new neighbors to our territory. We're startin' a new kind of relationship, This relationship will show that everyone can get along, no matter who or what ya are or where ya came from. So it's with deep pride that I hand over these here scissors to the big fella who's gonna open this new city."
With that, the mayor handed the scissors over to Rex Ramos. While the scissors were comically oversized in the mayor's hand, they weren't that unwieldy for Rex. He would have felt that Heather should be doing this as she was the first Dinotopian. But she was busy in Lyre. Besides, Tyrannosaurus rex is supposed to be the king of the dinosaurs. Of course, that wasn't the only reason all eyes were upon him. Plenty of the Dinotopians had dressed like cavemen for the occasion, including Rex. And the faux animal skin draped across his chest did little to hide his impressive muscles. He turned to the audience and said, "I don't have much to add to that speech. But I do want to say that Dinosaur City is a place for all. Not just for the Dintopians, but all Animalians and humans alike." That was also a reference to how there was an area of the city known as 'Little Mammalia', which was scaled to more conventional standards. It was meant for the more human-sized Dinotopians as well as any other Animalians or humans who wished to live in the city. "So without further ado, I declare Dinosaur City open." With that, Rex cut the ribbon, to the audience's great applause.
There were plenty of Dinotopians ready to move into the city. Among them was Tyra, who'll be Rex's bride before too long. She was wearing a particularly daring 'cavewoman' outfit. It wasn't too risque, but it did resemble a swimsuit more than what a cavewoman would have actually worn. She held Rex's hand as they led the Dinotopians into their new colony.
The buildings had a Neolithic design not unlike the Flintstones. But that was only on the outside. Inside, they were just as modern as any household. There were several important places in the city. Along with Little Mammalia and their own arena which will be called the Dino-Dome, there was a tower that rose above all the other buildings. The tower was called Skybax Heights and it was a hotel/boarding house set up for the pterosaurs. These places and many more will be covered when Sophie and Roland give their official review of Dinosaur City.