May 8th, 2010. This entrance opened on May 1st, and the entire area cost $7.5 million. It was part of a large, two-year project that also involved the $6.5 million Humbolt penguin exhibit.
May 8th, 2010. This entrance opened on May 1st, and the entire area cost $7.5 million. It was part of a large, two-year project that also involved the $6.5 million Humbolt penguin exhibit.
Nice contemporary style. Just wait a bit for the foliage to come in and it will be as green as the rest of the zoo.
Snowleo, do you know what are the most recent plans for the Woodland park zoo? Also I came across the Long-Range Master Plan of the WPZ from 1973 and I was wondering what has been or will be incorporated from that besides the savanna area. Are they still following it? I'm still hoping for a Patagonia area.
Looks great - I think a nice entrance really sets a good mood for the rest of the zoo visit. As I mentioned on a forum thread about zoo entrances, most of them are very boring (even some big name zoos like San Diego).
Nice contemporary style. Just wait a bit for the foliage to come in and it will be as green as the rest of the zoo.
Snowleo, do you know what are the most recent plans for the Woodland park zoo? Also I came across the Long-Range Master Plan of the WPZ from 1973 and I was wondering what has been or will be incorporated from that besides the savanna area. Are they still following it? I'm still hoping for a Patagonia area.
WPZ's 1976 revolutionary Master Plan has been revised several times, most recently in 2000. From that plan, much of the African Savanna, the central Tropical Rainforest zone, some of the Asian Tropics, and the Northern Trail more or less followed the original intent. But the current plan represents a big shift from the 1976 version, in that much more attention is paid to visitor services etc. (including this new entrance). The Patagonia area long since disappeared from the plan (although a small area featuring flamingos and pudu opened in a different area of the zoo a few years ago)
WPZ's 1976 revolutionary Master Plan has been revised several times, most recently in 2000. From that plan, much of the African Savanna, the central Tropical Rainforest zone, some of the Asian Tropics, and the Northern Trail more or less followed the original intent. But the current plan represents a big shift from the 1976 version, in that much more attention is paid to visitor services etc. (including this new entrance). The Patagonia area long since disappeared from the plan (although a small area featuring flamingos and pudu opened in a different area of the zoo a few years ago)
The Woodland Park Zoo has definitely catered to visitors in recent years, as between 2005-2006 there were 3 child-related additions: "Willawong Station" (lorikeets and cockatiels being hand fed), "Historic Carousel" and "Zoomazium" ($10 million indoor play area). In 2009 the restaurant/cafe "Pacific Blue Chowder House" became a wonderful addition to the zoo. Then this month the new West Entrance opened to the public, which includes a far superior ticketing booth, a second souvenir store, a new cafe added onto the Rain Forest Food Pavilion building, washrooms, a customer service building, and lots of space for large hordes of summer visitors. The new entrance is yet another visitor amenity that considerably improves the zoo for humans.
Along with all of those changes, there have been new exhibits for flamingos and pudu (2008), Humboldt penguins (2009), and meerkats (2010) and as of this moment there has been nothing announced for 2011. One MAJOR change that could happen is an "Asian Forest" complex directly across the centre of the zoo. That area is currently the one and only truly outdated zone of WPZ, and there are 3 ancient grottoes for sloth bears, sun bears and sumatran tigers. From my many emails to the zoo I've found out that there is a possibility that the old Feline House (now called "Adaptations") might possibly be demolished, along with all 3 grottoes, in a drastic redevelopment of that pathway through the middle of the zoo.
Everything of course hinges on finances, so I'm sure that in 2011 funding and designing for what will surely be tens of millions of dollars in improvements will commence. If the "Adaptations" building was to be either extensively renovated or demolished then the meerkats, komodo dragons, keas, northern tree shrews, bats, tamanduas, etc, (there are soon to be some animals added there from the now defunct nocturnal house) would all have to be relocated.
