I failed to find a picture of the safari parking lot in the gallery so I guess I'll post this here since this nursery is part of it. According to the zoo's somewhat old and almost unfollowed master plan, this parking lot that takes up 3.5 acres of the zoo's much needed land, this is/was planned to be turned into a North American themed area called "America Big River Country" where I would at least imagine their bears would be moved to. Next currently on the zoo's master plan list is making an indoor atrium for Gorilla World, which they succeeded on sticking to the plan. Apparently the next big thing the zoo will be working on is building a large parking garage so that this current parking space would be rendered open for animal use. What I've also been told is that the zoo is attempting to by every house and lot along Dury Ave, so that they can expand across the street. The only problem is that there are still a couple of houses still in use by city residents and this plan cannot happen until that changes.
I failed to find a picture of the safari parking lot in the gallery so I guess I'll post this here since this nursery is part of it. According to the zoo's somewhat old and almost unfollowed master plan, this parking lot that takes up 3.5 acres of the zoo's much needed land, this is/was planned to be turned into a North American themed area called "America Big River Country" where I would at least imagine their bears would be moved to. Next currently on the zoo's master plan list is making an indoor atrium for Gorilla World, which they succeeded on sticking to the plan. Apparently the next big thing the zoo will be working on is building a large parking garage so that this current parking space would be rendered open for animal use. What I've also been told is that the zoo is attempting to by every house and lot along Dury Ave, so that they can expand across the street. The only problem is that there are still a couple of houses still in use by city residents and this plan cannot happen until that changes.
I can say that there are no real plans for the Safari Lot at this point in time. Eventually the zoo would like to turn it into exhibit space, but it won't be happening anytime soon, and what it will be? No one knows. The zoo is currently much more focused on renovating what already exists and solving our major parking issues... Speaking of which, the parking garage is not set in stone. It is something that has been tossed around and the zoo would like to do it, but there are no official plans. The zoo has most recently expanding the lot on Erkenbrecher through the purchase and demolition of some additional houses there, and you are correct, they are looking to buy up more in the future. So for now, projects we can look forward to seeing in the next couple of years include the Gorilla World atrium and renovation, for which some construction has already begun, the renovation of Wings of The World and construction of an entry complex for the building with a series of new outdoor bird exhibits, the expansion and renovation of the elephant facilities, in that order, and then the renovations/reimaginations of Wildlife Canyon, Bear Line, and Night Hunters. The timing of the Bear Line and Night Hunter renovations/reimaginations are dependent on when the elderly animals housed in both exhibits pass on, and the timing of the Wildlife Canyon renovation/reimagination depends on funding and collection planning. There are smaller, cheaper renovations planned as well, but these are the big ticket projects for the zoo in the near future.
