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Joint chocolate factory and dinosaur museum coming to Indiana

The owner of South Bend Chocolate Co. has something big in store for St. Joseph County.

Exterior of Monument Circle's South Bend Chocolate Company Cafe

Though the new project won’t be located downtown, it’ll just be a ~2.5-hour drive away.

Photo by INDYtoday team

Soon, Indiana will have a place where 300 million-year-old tortoises and chocolate turtles collide.

South Bend Chocolate Co. owner and paleontology enthusiast Mark Tarner is building an 18,000-sqft dinosaur museum that will include a 60,000-sqft chocolate factory in northwest South Bend. Mark already has plans to display dinosaur bones he found himself on a fossil dig.

The 90-acre complex will also feature a restaurant, farmers market, public house, and hiking trails. Tubing in the winter, a buffalo enclosure, and a lookout point are also planned for outside.

Construction is now underway on the $20 milion agritourism destination and it’s expected to create 144 full-time jobs. Follow along on Facebook for updates on the project, which set to be completed by early 2024.

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