Henery Doorly Zoo Expansion

[Bradr]

When the Henry Doorly Zoo's master plan is fully implemented, visitors will feel like they're in a different zoo.

That is no accident.

 

Dennis Pate, executive director and CEO of the zoo and the plan's chief architect, said Friday that the zoo will redistribute the animals, no longer concentrating animal families in one facility but developing multiple new exhibits that group a number of animals from the same parts of the world in more natural surroundings.

Pate acknowledges that people who are used to seeing all the big cats together at the Cat Complex or all the bears in Bear Canyon may be disappointed at first to find those facilities are gone.

 

“But would you rather see a tiger in a 30-square-foot cage or out in natural habitat?” he asked.

 

The big cats and the bears are some of the stars of Nebraska's top tourist attraction, Pate said, and they'll anchor the different geographic groupings envisioned for the zoo's evolving 162-acre campus. The result, he hopes, is that visitors are drawn to more parts of the zoo than they might typically reach today.

Omaha's zoo has the chance to make a great zoo even greater, Pate said, bringing it up to date with current ideas in zoo exhibits and management.

 

The estimated cost of the master plan is $174 million, and zoo leaders are already making plans to talk with donors. The zoo has a strong donor base that has allowed it to add new exhibits and features almost annually. The list includes the Lied Jungle, Scott Aquarium, Hubbard Gorilla Valley and Hubbard Orangutan Forest, the Lozier IMAX Theater and the Grewcock Butterfly and Insect Pavilion, to name a few.

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How long will it take to accomplish the master plan?

 

“I say 10 years,” Pate said. “If you ask Walter (Scott, chairman of the Omaha Zoological Society board), he would tell you 20.”

 

So, as a compromise, the master plan now is being called a 15-year plan, Pate said.

The plan will be modified depending on donor interest and visitor reaction, Pate said, but he fully expects to implement the new layout for the zoo.

 

In the master plan, animals are grouped in five habitat sections to be created: Asian Highlands, African Grasslands, Coastal Shores, Equatorial Africa and Andean Foothills.

 

The tigers and leopards will still be near each other, in the part of the zoo that will become the Asian Highlands. The lions would be in the African Grasslands, while the pumas and jaguars would move to the Andean Foothills.

Pate said zoo visitors don't need to worry that the large new exhibit areas will make it difficult to see some of the animals. The exhibits will be designed so that the animals are drawn to the front of the enclosure, so even small children can find them. For example, places for the animals to play or rest such as water elements, piles of rocks, shade or tree trunks will be front and center.

Plans to rotate the animals on view during the day also will encourage more realistic activity in place of animal boredom and pacing, Pate said.

 

Pate said simply, “No,” when asked Friday if giant pandas were in the master plan, then added: “You never say never, but at this time, no.”

Pate said in an interview that the zoo also will look at selecting animals that can cope with an Omaha winter and possibly sending to other zoos some animals that aren't suited to the weather variations here. A Siberian tiger, for example, would do better than a tiger species that comes from the hot Indian jungle, he said.

 

It wouldn't mean that tropical animals would disappear. Indoor homes will continue to be found at the zoo for warm-weather animals, he said; in fact, the master plan provides some new accommodations. And it wouldn't mean fewer animals, he said, just a different makeup that allows more animals to be on view in the winter.

The master plan calls for adding many animals not currently in the zoo. “We want to complement and add to what's here already,” Pate said.

 

Visitors also could see greater numbers of animals than the zoo already has herds of elephants, tiger families and prides of lions as well as multiple rhinos, large hippos and a crocodile in the African Grasslands habitat. Wolves, llamas and anteaters are possible additions to the Andean Foothills area. The Asian Highlands section could gain red pandas, a reddish-brown raccoonlike animal.

People should also find it easier to make their way around the zoo. A second train already has been added, and a new pathway should provide more direct travel through the zoo. Visitors also won't have to compete with the zoo's service vehicles, which will be given separate roads or paths.

One phase of the plan already has begun. Construction has started on an education-conference center and a new entryway for the Scott Aquarium. That work should be completed in early spring 2012, Pate said.

 

“After that it gets fuzzier,” he said of work on the master plan.

 

Making many of the planned changes will require increased attendance and the good will of donors, he said. The zoo draws about 1.5 million visitors a year now.

 

With that in mind, Pate said, some of the early projects mostly likely will be the revamped entrance-exit area and increased parking.

 

The city's donation of the 35-acre Rosenblatt Stadium property after a donor paid its $11 million debt was an “incredible gift,” Pate said, and will help with both the expansion and the parking problem.

 

The razed stadium is to be replaced with large, decorative parking areas. More specific details about the Rosenblatt property will be announced next week, Pate said, but the master plan shows a greenspace around what is now home plate.

 

The master plan calls for nine children's play areas, including one in each of the planned new zoo sections.

 

The Adventure Education area will include a splash zone, a climbing tower and ziplines. There also will be stations at which kids can interact with domesticated animals from around the world, and areas for hands-on experiments and projects.

 

There also will be animal exhibits for prairie dogs, river otters, little blue penguins and some domestic species.

 

The plan also builds on the kindergarten and high school programs now at the zoo with the construction of a school for at least 350 students.

 

In the nearby Coastal Shores area, the polar bear and sea lion exhibits will share space with another splash zone and the carousel.

 

The plan provides more places for events or special presentations. In addition to a conference center, an “event lawn,” 500-person picnic area and overnight campground are slated for the African Grasslands habitat, and an amphitheater is envisioned near the Adventure Education area.

 

John Boyer, president of the Omaha Zoological Society, which operates the zoo, said: “This is an extraordinary opportunity and also an extraordinary challenge … to raise the money. But we're up to the task.”

 

Lee Simmons, former head of the zoo who now raises money for it as chairman of the Omaha Zoo Foundation, said he will be just one cog in the fundraising effort. “An entire team will be working” to find donors, he said.

 

Pate, who is starting his second year at the zoo, said he is excited about the opportunity he's had to come up with a plan for a community that gives such strong support to its zoo.

 

“I'm a grown-up living a little boy's dream,” he said.

 

Here's the video link on the page. I cant connect it because it is in mv4 format.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100604/NEWS01/706049836

 

This has been out for a little while now, but no one has posted anything. I for one am really excited about this, as I visit the zoo about twice a month during the summer. Its a great place just to get out of the house and walk around.

 

The new improvements look pretty amazing too. The paper version of the world herald for last week included a large map, but I wasn't able to find it. Post it if you do!

 

I especially like how they are going to retain a small green space and memorial to Rosenblatt's home base. Good move by the zoo.

[GSG]

I freakin love the zoo. It brings out the kid in me for some reason.

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

The new zoo director has a great vision!!

[knapplc]

I'm really excited for this upgrade. Eventually, 20-50 years down the road, when the zoo needs to expand/rebuild, that Rosenblatt space will be invaluable. That's growth space for a century, at least.

 

The ideas they're talking about for the "new" zoo sound great. It'll be a mess for a while, but if they pull this off like they did with the Jungle, which is hands down my favorite zoo attraction in the world, it's going to turn out brilliantly.

[M I K E]

If we keep adding sweet stuff like this I think we can finally say that our zoo is hands-down better than San Diego's.