Im hoping the Realm is kept for as many years as possible to be honest. It doesnt look all that pretty from the outside but the inside is one of my favourite Chester exhibits. These re-developments with the Reptiles is arguably for the best perhaps if the zoo wants to keep this building modern, which is soemthing perhaps not suitable with the classic 20th century display of reptiles in vivarium after vivarium.
Well I`ve heard from a pretty reliable source that its staying and will used primarily for keeping birds in free flight along with the aviarys that are currently present with some of the bird species not suitable for the free-flight area.
Unfortunately, I heard the opposite from a senior member of zoo management (a curator actually) who was taking a party of executives around the zoo. He said that the building was reaching the end of its life and would probably be demolished during or shortly after the construction of Heart of Africa.
We've discussed before that its infrastructure might not be the most modern, but many of us love that old building and it would be stunning as an aviary alone. You'd think it would be less expensive to maintain the old house rather than build something new, especially as we'd be highly unlikely to get anything so substantial.
Unfortunately, I heard the opposite from a senior member of zoo management (a curator actually) who was taking a party of executives around the zoo. He said that the building was reaching the end of its life and would probably be demolished during or shortly after the construction of Heart of Africa.
@ SMR and Pt123 like both of you I have heard both that its going and its staying,but the last that I heard was that it was staying and that wasnly a couple of months ago!
I suspect that its lifetime is likely to be limited by the structure of the building. I think that one of Mr Mottershead's greatest insights was that zoo buildings eventually become outmoded and so they should not be designed to last for centuries - look at the problems that Regents Park and Dudley have made for themselves.
Some zoos need to relearn this lesson and I wonder if Chester have lost the plot a little too - what will people think of Spirit of the Jaguar in 2034?
Some zoos need to relearn this lesson and I wonder if Chester have lost the plot a little too - what will people think of Spirit of the Jaguar in 2034?
I'm in two minds about this. Obviously we don't want Chester to get saddled with the problems of London or Dudley Zoo, but one of the instantly recognisable features of Chester are the sandstone buildings and walls. Even when new, they give exhibits a quality feel, a strong sense of identity and demonstrate that Chester is a zoo with long term commitments to its animals.
Some of the recent buildings, the Twilight Zone and Butterfly Journey for example, look much like your average out-of-town industrial/shopping estate construction and probably have a similar longevity.
The older buildings are difficult to adapt, whereas the new ones can be swept aside without much thought, which is great when designing larger enclosures. But, to use your analogy, in 2046 when Spirit of the Jaguar is the same age as the Tropical Realm is now, I think we'll all have a fondness for it too, unlike buildings such as the Butterfly Journey, Twilight Zone, elephant house extension or, dare I say it, Realm of the Red Ape.
Mottershead's vision was "always building" and he was incredibly resourceful and adaptable. This is not the same as "always knocking down".
i hope they don't knock down this building (ofc unless they gonna replace it with something better) coz its such a lovely place to be in and it did show a wonderful aray of birds and reptiles, hope they come back =)
It's almost the same, you know.
The only buildings that survive from 50 years ago, without major changes, are the kangaroo's brick house with the adjoining round enclosure which was originally for sun bears, the antelope and cattle house (modified for Visayan pigs and forest buffalo), the giraffe house (with the camel section revamped for okapis) plus Oakfield House and the old stables/works yard.
Parts of the old chimpanzee house, the polar bear pool and the nocturnal house still survive. The beaver/coati enclosure, the red panda/otter enclosure and the Oakfield aviaries have only just gone.
In that time the old monkey house, reptile house, Indian elephant house, flamingo pool and bear pits have all been demolished. The cat house, small mammal house, parrot house, Kamchatka bear enclosure, the little otter and penguin pools, the two round aviaries, the bird of prey aviaries behind the tropical realm, the macaque enclosures and the new lion and Siberian tiger enclosures have all been built and then flattened. The new monkey house, the temperate bird house and the pachyderm house have been built, then effectively demolished and rebuilt as the current monkey house, Islands in Danger and the elephant house. The aquarium is the same externally, but only a few of the original tanks remain and the sea lion pool has been refurbished twice, if I remember rightly.
I appreciate what you're saying, but most of the major building (demolition) changes all date after Mottershead's death, whereas in his lifetime, more areas of the zoo were adapted as animal husbandry changed, rather than being flattened. Even the old bear pits opposite the sea lion pool were still present in 1978 and I think most of the changes you list are post-1978 too.
My preferred approach would be for the zoo, where appropriate, to try and reuse existing enclosures rather than just flattening or grassing over them. For example, the beaver/coati enclosure and the coati/red panda/otter enclosure could have surely been used for other species, rather than just turned into lawns, and wouldn't it have been preferable to keep the corridor and round aviaries until such time when there was something built in their place, rather than moving all their occupants off-show or to other collections?
Reconstruction on the same site is important during periods when the zoo remains within the same boundaries, as it has done, more or less, since the mid-70s. But this doesn't alter the fact that buildings like the pachyderm house and the new monkey house were built with limited lifespans and modified during those lifespans while Mr Mottershead ran the zoo. Both of them have been completely rebuilt, on the same sites, as I am sure that he expected that they would be.
I anticipate that if the chimps move to the new Heart of Africa exhibit, outside the current boundaries, together with some of the inhabitants of the Tropical Realm, there will be a major opportunity to demolish the Tropical Realm and completely remodel this area of the zoo. I hope it will be the next major project to be considered, for completion in 2016 perhaps.
