AURORA — The Aurora Fossil Museum is rolling out the red carpet to showcase its newly renovated Mine Room next week.

The Mine Room was originally opened in May 1979, a year after the opening of the museum, according to Cynthia Crane, museum director. Prior to the renovation, the room was a place where visitors would watch a video and hear lectures, introducing them to fossils and where they come from: the PotashCorp-Aurora mines, Crane said.

Crane said the museum’s board decided to ask PotashCorp to help with the renovation of the Mine Room.

“They agreed to fund updating the Mine Room into a room that depicts current mining processes and what’s going on at the (PotashCorp) mine, what’s phosphate and how it’s mined,” Crane said.

Crane said PotashCorp, which has undergone several name changes since its inception, is essentially the reason the museum exists. The museum was founded to showcase the rich paleontological records of the local area, including marine fossils such as whales, sharks and different types of fish and sea life.

“The fossils that were being discovered in the neighboring phosphate mine have needed a place to be showcased and to show what Beaufort County has, and the museum was founded to do that,” Crane said. “The mine is actually one of the world’s richest fossil locations in the world for Myocene and Plyocene marine fossils. The amount of fossils is so rich that people collected fossils over the years, and it just made sense for Aurora to have a fossil museum based on discoveries in the mines. The fossils produced and brought out have built this museum to what it is today.”

Crane said the newly renovated Mine Room has been transformed into a room that includes more immersive displays, containing not only visual materials, but also those that give visitors a sense of depth and scale of the mine, the process of mining for phosphate and other aspects. It will include interactive displays and sensory features that will spark imagination and give attendees a sense of what it is like to be in the mine, Crane said.

The grand opening of the room will be held May 20, from noon to 2 p.m., where distinguished guests, PotashCorp representatives and others will be present. The public is invited to visit the new room at 2 p.m.

“Potash continues to be a great sponsor and partner with this museum, and they’re a big supporter of the museum,” Crane said. “The mine room renovation is a good way for them to share the mining process with visitors and with the public. Hopefully, through this renovation, people will be able to understand more about the mine and what it does and provides. I think it’s a great addition to the museum. I think visitors will be impressed with it and will like it, and their experience will be enhanced because of it. We’re very excited for everyone to get a chance to see it and experience it.”

The Mine Room will be open Mondays through Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays, from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. However, Friday and Saturday on the weekend of the Aurora Fossil Festival, the display will be open extended hours, according to Crane.

The Aurora Fossil Museum is located at 400 Main St. in Aurora.