Franklin Park Zoo Franklin Park Zoo News 2022

I visited yesterday for the first time since spring. Adding to the above comments, there were numerous new plantings and landscape projects throughout the zoo. These included perennial flower gardens, shrubs, and trees. Much of these new landscape projects were suffering from the drought, so I hope they surround survive. Associated with this were many new small fences made of wood and/or rope to control traffic flow and protect the landscape.

The area outside the exit of the tropical forest was previously overgrown and unkempt. Currently most is the vegetation has been cut/killed. I suspect it's more of a landscaping project in progress than anything else.
 
gardener14 said:
I visited yesterday for the first time since spring. Adding to the above comments, there were numerous new plantings and landscape projects throughout the zoo. These included perennial flower gardens, shrubs, and trees. Much of these new landscape projects were suffering from the drought, so I hope they surround survive. Associated with this were many new small fences made of wood and/or rope to control traffic flow and protect the landscape.

The area outside the exit of the tropical forest was previously overgrown and unkempt. Currently most is the vegetation has been cut/killed. I suspect it's more of a landscaping project in progress than anything else.
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It’s funny that we visited on the same day. We could have run into each other!
 
StoppableSan said:
Do you know the timeline for the new entrance/penguin exhibit?
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I just stumbled across this web page from BIA.studio-- an architecture firm that was hired by Zoo New England in 2015 to help them plan the stages of their masterplan. While a map of the masterplan has never been published, this web page does list all of the masterplan's major goals for new projects, including each project's estimated budget and a timeline of when each project was / is slated to be completed (some projects have already been completed).

Zoo New England Re-Development Plan - BIA.studio

150429-logo-ZNE-Campus-Redevelopment-Presentation-7.jpg


Here are all the projects listed on the timeline:

Franklin Park Zoo Projects
Children's Zoo
Tropical Forest and Bird's World maintenance
Africa Complex
Zoo Hospital
Zoo Office replacements
Outdoor Gorilla Exhibit
Greeting / Welcome Center
Historical restorations
Wild Asia complex connected to Bird's World

Stone Zoo Projects
Classrooms
Quarantine Buildings
Restroom Trailer
Facilities Office
Admin Office
Welcome Plaza
Nature's Classroom
Otter Falls
Sawmill Creek Grizzly Bear Exhibit

A lot of these projects have been hinted at for a very long time. The following is a quote from another thread from 2009, about some rumors regarding ZNE's future plans:

loxodonta said:
I spoke to a keeper at Stone Zoo not long ago about the up coming renovations to both Stone and Franklin Park Zoo and was told large exhibits are part of their masterplan as well as short term plans. A Sawmill Creek exhibit featuring grizzly bears and possibly moose is part of the renovations at Stone Zoo as well as a new kids area. Franklin Park Zoo is redoing their Africa section adding new species like Nile crocs as well as a restaurant looking into the lion exhibit. Also a new asia exhibit is being planned and the gibbons going to Stone zoo may end up going to Franklin to join orangs, tigers, red panda and komodo dragons. Also after just redoing the indoor part of the gorilla exhibit there are plans to redo the outside part.
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Now, obviously I must note that the timeline I found was just a plan, and it obviously has not been followed to the T. Unfortunately, some projects (like FPZ's Africa Complex) have been completely skipped and not been constructed at all. But on a more optimistic note, all of SZ's goals through 2028 are already complete! This is really exciting, and I hope that SZ is so far ahead of schedule that all attention will go to Franklin Park for the time being. But since the timeline is not being strictly followed, we cannot be too confident of how long each project will take, especially between the competing goals of the new entrance, the zoo hospital, and other BTS maintenance.
 
Personally, I hope Asia takes precedence over Africa at Franklin Park Zoo. Franklin already has a nice African collection, and penguins are a species kept at the nearby NEAQ. Asia would have more opportunities to bring new crowd-pleasing/ABC species, such as sloth bears, a new tiger exhibit, possibly orangutans even. And this project is slated to happen on unutilized terrain, so would fill a sore spot in the zoo and go a long way in improving it.
 
Neil chace said:
Personally, I hope Asia takes precedence over Africa at Franklin Park Zoo. Franklin already has a nice African collection, and penguins are a species kept at the nearby NEAQ. Asia would have more opportunities to bring new crowd-pleasing/ABC species, such as sloth bears, a new tiger exhibit, possibly orangutans even. And this project is slated to happen on unutilized terrain, so would fill a sore spot in the zoo and go a long way in improving it.
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The Asia expansion is probably the thing I am most looking forward to, too. The project has a whopping $42 million budget, which blows the combined $20 million budget of the zoo's Africa section and new entrance out of the water. Still, I think it'd make sense for FPZ to work on the cheaper projects foundational first, and to save the biggest complexes for last. While FPZ has a nice African collection with some spacious hoofstock exhibits, renovations would still be welcome considering many of these exhibits are understocked and are lazily crafted with ugly and unimmersive barriers. When you look at articles like this one, you can also see that the zoo is prioritizing working on its entrances as a way to make a good first impression on visitors. By using their entrance to market themselves in this way, it may be even easier to raise money for bigger expansions later, if everything continues to go smoothly.

My main questions now are about the different maintenance projects going on behind the scenes. I wonder what the status is on the zoo hospital, the TF roof maintenance, and work on the CRC annex, because I have real no point of reference on whether any of these projects are complete. If they are not, I assume they will be prioritized (along with the restoration of historical elements which are already occurring, as seen by the changes to the Follys) before any new exciting exhibit additions take place.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
I just stumbled across this web page from BIA.studio-- an architecture firm that was hired by Zoo New England in 2015 to help them plan the stages of their masterplan. While a map of the masterplan has never been published, this web page does list all of the masterplan's major goals for new projects, including each project's estimated budget and a timeline of when each project was / is slated to be completed (some projects have already been completed).

Zoo New England Re-Development Plan - BIA.studio

150429-logo-ZNE-Campus-Redevelopment-Presentation-7.jpg


Here are all the projects listed on the timeline:

Franklin Park Zoo Projects
Children's Zoo
Tropical Forest and Bird's World maintenance
Africa Complex
Zoo Hospital
Zoo Office replacements
Outdoor Gorilla Exhibit
Greeting / Welcome Center
Historical restorations
Wild Asia complex connected to Bird's World

Stone Zoo Projects
Classrooms
Quarantine Buildings
Restroom Trailer
Facilities Office
Admin Office
Welcome Plaza
Nature's Classroom
Otter Falls
Sawmill Creek Grizzly Bear Exhibit

A lot of these projects have been hinted at for a very long time. The following is a quote from another thread from 2009, about some rumors regarding ZNE's future plans:



Now, obviously I must note that the timeline I found was just a plan, and it obviously has not been followed to the T. Unfortunately, some projects (like FPZ's Africa Complex) have been completely skipped and not been constructed at all. But on a more optimistic note, all of SZ's goals through 2028 are already complete! This is really exciting, and I hope that SZ is so far ahead of schedule that all attention will go to Franklin Park for the time being. But since the timeline is not being strictly followed, we cannot be too confident of how long each project will take, especially between the competing goals of the new entrance, the zoo hospital, and other BTS maintenance.
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Great find! The link lists more than exhibits. Lots of upkeep. Some of the costs are skyrocket.

If stone zoo otter exhibit cost more than gorilla I hope it is more than otter. Seems expensive. Sawmill creek, for bears?
 
PercideRolo said:
If stone zoo otter exhibit cost more than gorilla I hope it is more than otter. Seems expensive. Sawmill creek, for bears?
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I found this quote from @PSO which also talked about the Sawmill Creek and Wild Asia plans:

PSO said:
Stone was to build the Sawmill Creek exhibit which tied into the preexisting Yukon trail (eagles,lynx, fox etc.) Highlights were to be brown bear (possibly black as well), otters, beaver and moose. FPZ was to build a new children's zoo (which they did) Asia gardens (move around current asian species and add komodo and orangs) and expand the giraffes to have white rhino added. There was additional plans but that's what I can remember off the top of my head. I also remember it was further split the two zoos zoogeographically, stone being the Americas and FPZ being Asia, Africa and australia
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@PSO I know this is an old quote from another thread, but do you have any possible sources for this information?

Also, while white rhino was slated for FPZ's giraffe exhibit, the zoo now seems to be leaning towards Indian Rhinos, according to this article: Why doesn’t Boston have a better zoo? - The Boston Globe
 
Coincidentally both your quotes (loxodonta, PSO) are me lol
Though I never worked for ZNE I had a few colleagues that worked at both facilities including a former girlfriend so I had a lot of inside knowledge.
Both were also my hometown zoos, grew up less then 10 mins from Stone, and still have family that are loyal members.
Sawmill and Asia sections have long been apart of the overall masterplan but money has always been a major issue. ZNE has wanted to bring back some of their species from their heyday, especially species that used to be at Stone. It was quite some time ago but Sawill was originally going to have Polar bears given that Stone almost permanently closed if it wasn't for Major the Polar bear (coincidentally Kenda, Ecotariums long time Polar bear, sire) but the logistics just didn't work hence going with Grizzlies instead.
I also find it interesting they mention GoH rhino instead of whites for two reasons, 1. Giraffe savanna way originally built to have whites and in fact keepers referred to one of the transfer gates as the "rhino gate". 2. With elephants being phased out at Buttonwood they have already stated they are having GoH replace them.
 
Agreed but the infrastructure for whites at FPZ is basically there. They would have to build an entire new habitat for GoH. If they are adding another megafauna black rhino would be my first choice and common hippo my second given the lack of both in the region but again would need to build an entire exhibit for either.
 
PSO said:
Coincidentally both your quotes (loxodonta, PSO) are me lol
Though I never worked for ZNE I had a few colleagues that worked at both facilities including a former girlfriend so I had a lot of inside knowledge.
Both were also my hometown zoos, grew up less then 10 mins from Stone, and still have family that are loyal members.
Sawmill and Asia sections have long been apart of the overall masterplan but money has always been a major issue. ZNE has wanted to bring back some of their species from their heyday, especially species that used to be at Stone. It was quite some time ago but Sawill was originally going to have Polar bears given that Stone almost permanently closed if it wasn't for Major the Polar bear (coincidentally Kenda, Ecotariums long time Polar bear, sire) but the logistics just didn't work hence going with Grizzlies instead.
I also find it interesting they mention GoH rhino instead of whites for two reasons, 1. Giraffe savanna way originally built to have whites and in fact keepers referred to one of the transfer gates as the "rhino gate". 2. With elephants being phased out at Buttonwood they have already stated they are having GoH replace them.
Click to expand...

Haha, that’s such a funny coincidence that they’re both you. That would be shocking and amazing if Stone could get Polar Bears again, but as you said, there's basically no chance (especially with the current state of the captive population). Out of curiosity, do you mind me asking why you have two accounts?

To add more fuel to the research fire, last night I found this article from 2009, which hints at the MP as well:
Features of the plan will include expanding the lion holding area to allow enough space for an entire pride of lions, remaking the outdoor western lowlands gorilla exhibit, building a new gift shop closer to the exit, removing toxic lead from the giant outdoor bird cage where the Andean condors are now kept - so small birds can roost there again - and several other improvements.
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Cross-comparing this information with the timeline posted above, I would assume the lion expansion and possibly the white rhinos would be slated for the “Africa Complex”. They'd likely expand the lion habitat onto the current tiger exhibit, and move the Tigers to the new "Wild Asia" area. This would give each species more space, and be more geographically accurate. For the rhinos, I'd hope they have enough space for a breeding situation. If they breed and keep the rhinos in a mixed species exhibit, it would definitely differentiate itself from Southwick's.

I also like the idea the article mentions of using the flight cage for smaller birds again. It would be a nice exhibit for larger groups of smaller birds, compared to the current situation where they just have two condors who get lost in the enormous flight cage.
 
@ZooElephantsMan I forgot/lost my login for the loxodonta account

When they built the current tiger enclosure they never planned on making it permanently for tigers. Talking to the keepers at the time, they told me either hunting dogs would return or be an expansion for lions. Most likely the latter.
I would very much like to see Polar bears return to the New England area. At one point there were half dozen facilities holding them. Stone would be my preferred because as I mentioned before Major (plus some good PR skills) saved the zoo which ultimately saved ZNE as a whole
 
PSO said:
ZNE has wanted to bring back some of their species from their heyday, especially species that used to be at Stone. It was quite some time ago but Sawill was originally going to have Polar bears
Click to expand...

What would some of those species be, besides polar bears?
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
Haha, that’s such a funny coincidence that they’re both you. That would be shocking and amazing if Stone could get Polar Bears again, but as you said, there's basically no chance (especially with the current state of the captive population).
Click to expand...
The only way Stone could get polar bears again is if they pull a Saint Louis and try their hardest to get a rescued bear.

Side tangent, I'm curious - is it possible to build a polar bear complex with a dual saltwater/freshwater system? Switching between the two depending on who inhabits the enclosure, be it a grizzly bear or a polar bear.
 
It's amazing when I remember Stone at the earliest time I can remember they had gorilla, orange, mandrill, siamang, mandrill, lions, tigers, Polar bear, giraffe, zebra, Wildebeest, bongo, first time I knew what a jaguarundi was and even an Asian elephant. Before my time I have it on good authority chimps, hyena and penguins (kings) were present
 
PercideRolo said:
It falling apart and they preserve it. You can walk into it now. Hospital, entrance, zoo store and penguin are new project. Worker said the forest tent needs replacement which why gorilla exhibit was done.
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Wait a sec-
Where did you here that Franklin Park Zoo is getting penguins in the near future??!?!
 
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