I attended the master plan town hall this evening. A variety of topics were discussed, mainly pertaining to new developments coming within the next two years. First I will summarize everything important that was mentioned in the meeting, then I will briefly go over some ideas/recommendations from the audience.
The presentation was hosted by Jennifer Baader, senior vice president of government affairs at Brookfield Zoo, and Mary Ann Cronin, master planning consultant at Brookfield Zoo. They provided some insight on the master planning process and what’s been done up to this point. Chicago based architecture firm Booth Hansen and legendary zoo design firm Jones and Jones have been brought on to develop the plan. Nine other zoos were visited to gather ideas and inspiration for new exhibits here. Numerous internal and community focus groups have been held to get a grasp on what the public wants and at least one more virtual town hall will be held before the official reveal. The tentative date to complete and reveal the finalized master plan is September 29th.
The presentation then transitioned into talking about upcoming exhibits over the next two years. Unfortunately not many new renderings were shown off that we hadn’t already seen. Plans were reiterated for the crane and eagle owl aviaries, as well as the prairie dog exhibit which will feature various pop-up bubbles. It’s all scheduled for completion in Spring 2024. Something else of note is that the turtle exhibits have already quietly opened. They are gradually introducing them to the habitats, so viewing hours will be limited as they adapt to the area over the next few weeks. It was also mentioned that the North entrance will see upgrades in the future.
Plans for the Australia house expansion were discussed as well. Apparently the existing building won’t be receiving many major changes, but everything north of the building (existing camel yards and picnic space directly adjacent to them) is being redeveloped. Apparently you’ll be able to see a small part of the area after exiting the north gate tunnel, at least that’s how it was described to me. There will be a boardwalk that will traverse through a new walkthrough macropod enclosure and other new enclosures for various mammal and bird species. Koala, Matchie’s tree kangaroo and Raggiana bird-of-paradise are still the only confirmed additions. An outdoor aviary for the kookaburras is being added as well apparently, alongside several more outdoor aviaries. Not sure what this means for the existing macropod exhibits behind the house or the wallaby walkthrough in Wild Encounters. It’s scheduled for completion in late summer/early fall 2024.
Tropical Forests was of course the main topic of discussion. Remember when I mentioned that the team visited 9 zoos for inspiration? One of these was Bronx and they specifically mentioned that Congo Gorilla Forest is the main inspiration for this development. They really want to deliver something amazing for both animals and visitors that could inspire other zoos to build something similar. New renderings were displayed, albeit very small ones, which I’ve attached at the bottom of this post. It’s planned to open in spring 2025.
The meeting wrapped up with an open-mic session where attendees were able to voice their recommendations for future master plan projects. Many of these were suggestions for non-animal uses for the property like bike paths, an overnight accommodation, or stuff involving the local high school (where the meeting was held). Many attendees mentioned wanting dead spaces to be populated with animal habitats which as we know is something the zoo is taking to heart. One gentleman inquired about the old bear grottos and it was mentioned that they will be redeveloped, but nothing was settled on yet. The east mall may be integrated as part of that development, whatever it may be.
I got the chance to speak as well and my main suggestion was for the continued inclusion of smaller, more unusual species alongside the larger, more popular ones. It's one the zoos strengths and I'd like to see it continued in new exhibits: such as the inclusion of smaller herps or birds in future buildings. They seemed really receptive to my proposal and mentioned the new Australia area should feature some of that. As part of that, I also mentioned possibly constructing additional outdoor reptile habitats in the nature plaza to compliment the new turtle exhibits. My last suggestion was to construct proper aviaries for the macaws down the line. Apparently there was a desire to have in-flight macaw demonstrations similar to that of Indianapolis, so they said that’s something that could be considered for the future alongside aviaries.
Here are two new renderings of Tropical Forests that were shown off: the left one shows one of the gorilla viewing areas and right one shows the exterior of the Gorilla Conservation Center. I apologize for the poor photo quality, but it’s the best I was able to do.
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