Got back from the meeting.
@pachyderm pro, they live streamed it through Facebook, but I'm not sure how to link/embed it here. I might try later.
Updates from the meeting: they've made a lot of progress and while it is still a work in progress, they seem to have the proposed layout mostly figured out. The area where the Children's Zoo currently is, along with a large area of undeveloped land next to it, will likely become a California-themed exhibit complex. The entire area where the African exhibits are now will be redeveloped into a more holistic exhibit complex that will likely resemble mixed-species savanna exhibits at other zoos. Asian exhibits will be added around Elephants of Asia, and a market-style area will dominate the old section of South America. There are tentative plans for a water play area in the northwest part of the zoo, and for three "lodges" to be used as event spaces: a turn-of-the-century California-themed lodge in the California area, a two-story safari lodge-type building in the African area, and a renovated Treetops Plaza in the Asian area. The plan is also to keep Australia and renovate it, and possibly add an expansion to LAIR. On top of all of that, they are redesigning the pathways for better circulation, redesigning the parking lot and adjacent intersection to improve safety and ease congestion, expand parking to the south, and renovate/replace the infrastructure for water, electric, and utilities, which for the most part haven't been updated since they were built in the 1960's. Keep in mind that none of these plans are finalized and could change in the near future.
@GraysonDP and others who are surely interested: they are not to the stage of collection planning yet. They are still in the process of designing the layout and infrastructure that will be built; once that is complete, they will do a collection plan to evaluate what species to include in the space they have.
@DavidBrown, you are correct; they are not looking to renovate or drastically change any of the new areas. The elephant, great ape, LAIR, and RotA exhibits are unlikely to be affected much (if at all) by this development.
