NEW DIAMOND DISCOVERY CENTER OPENS AT ARKANSAS CRATER OF DIAMONDS STATE PARK

The latest improvement at Arkansas's diamond site, the Crater of Diamonds State Park, is a new 3,900-square-foot Diamond Discovery Center, a US$965,069 structure that now serves as the gateway to the park’s 37½-acre diamond search area and an in-depth introduction to the adventure of searching for diamonds. The Diamond Discovery Center is a diamond search area-based, interpretive facility that is designed to enhance the visitor experience at the park by helping park visitors understand diamonds and how to search for them at the site.

The exhibits include the diamond hunters’ hall of fame, and feature information about the many notable diamonds that have been unearthed here since those first diamond discoveries in 1906. Along with the exhibit gallery, the two level barrier-free building features a refreshment facility, digging equipment rental, restrooms/bathhouse/changing rooms, office, and storage on the lower level. The building’s upper level features a 1,600-square-foot classroom. The building sports an architectural design reminiscent of old mining buildings. This mining-theme is carried into the interior with the look of the exhibits and furnishings.

Located in southwest Arkansas, the park is the world's only publicly operated diamond site where the public is allowed to search and keep any gems found, regardless of value. Visitors search over a plowed field, the eroded surface of the earth’s eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in surface area. Other semi-precious gems and minerals found here include amethyst, garnet, peridot, jasper, agate, calcite, barite and quartz. The park staff provides free identification and certification of diamonds. Park interpretive programs and the exhibit gallery in the park visitor center explain the site’s geology and history and offer tips on recognizing diamonds in the rough.