3rd Street Promenade dinosaurs

Santa Monica, California, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Dinosaurs of Santa Monica are six sculptures by Claude and Francois LaLanne, dated 1989, along the Third Street Promenade between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard. The city lists them in stainless steel, copper and foliage; in June 2025 the Santa Monica Daily Press reported four have fountains, two are topiaries, and several need repair.

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3rd Street Promenade dinosaurs

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Site-level location · 34.0159° N, 118.4962° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Six dinosaurs line the Third Street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica, and they are among the best known pieces of public art on the street.

The City of Santa Monica's cultural affairs page credits them to Claude and Francois LaLanne, dates them to 1989 and describes six topiary sculptures in stainless steel, copper and foliage, placed along the Promenade between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard. Downtown Santa Monica says they were added during the 1989 renovation that turned the old Santa Monica Mall into the Promenade. According to the same source, the mall had opened to pedestrians on 8 November 1965, and the renovation took two years and cost 10 million dollars.

The Santa Monica Daily Press reported in June 2025 that the six works came through the city's Percent for Art programme, and that four include water fountains while two are topiaries. By then, the paper said, they had fallen into disrepair. Some fountains were out of service, tiles were missing or stained, and corroded electrical systems at the dinosaur vaults had led the city to shut off power for safety. Committee member Eric Sedman was quoted saying that seeing "this kind of deferred maintenance" on a pedestrian mall was "not a good look for anybody".

The paper reported that the city's head of cultural affairs, Sofia Klatzker, cited a state contractor licensing rule as an obstacle to hiring conservators. It also said city officials floated, as an interim fix, placing lined planters with succulents or drought-tolerant greenery in empty basins, and that the estate of Claude Lalanne had expressed interest in staying connected to the sculptures. The paper said longer-term decisions were still pending.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The six dinosaurs stand along the Third Street Promenade between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard. The Santa Monica Daily Press reported in June 2025 that some fountains were out of service, so water features may not be running.

ACCESS

On the Third Street Promenade, a pedestrian street in downtown Santa Monica, between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard.

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