I much prefer the artificial rock grottoes of the 30's to these brutalist style grottos of the 50's, 60's and 70's. This is an architectural style that just never made much sense to me, and the unfortunate thing is, to really do the exhibit justice they'd have to start from scratch rather than renovate the existing grotto like they did for the gorilla exhibit.
I much prefer the artificial rock grottoes of the 30's to these brutalist style grottos of the 50's, 60's and 70's. This is an architectural style that just never made much sense to me, and the unfortunate thing is, to really do the exhibit justice they'd have to start from scratch rather than renovate the existing grotto like they did for the gorilla exhibit.
The Woodland Park Zoo has exactly 3 grottoes in the entire park: sumatran tiger, sloth bear and sun bear. If the funds ever arrive then the long-term plan is to either renovate or demolish that section of the zoo, as all 3 grottoes are basically right next to each other. To be fair the other 80-90% of the zoo is above average and at times brilliant.
The gorilla exhibit is a renovated bear grotto as well is it not? All of the grottos had that same architectural style to begin with? I was under the impression that the other one's were older and were of the artificial rock variety. I suppose I'm mistaken.
I just looked at the map, and you are totally right, in fact the lion and wild dog exhibits were in the same grotto complex. And the current bear grottos are in the same complex as the gorilla exhibit. It really is amazing to see how that zoo reinvented itself so completely.
