search for historic buildings

L

LARTIS

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
i search for the biggest or best historic building collections left

mainly oriented on the traditional taxidermy concept like
pachydermy
carnivore
primate house
bird
reptile
aquarium
insectarium

i was not too fond of them when i was youngee because back then a lot of institutions still kept the originally intended species in these small enclousures
but with the mpsr recent trends to geographical landscape inspired exhibits most zoos demolished those landmarks and started to miss these elements of the history that made modern zoos

what r significant mention for each region europe america
i am sorry i have neither heard nor seen those potentially existent outside the west northern hemisphere
 
There are not so many zoos left that prioritize their heritage, especially from those days.

In Europe there is a select group which are a very good showcase of zoo history and where it is ingrained in their way of showing animals:
- Tiergarten Schönbrunn Vienna
- Zoo Budapest
- Menagerie/Jardin des Plantes, Paris
- Artis, Amsterdam
- Zoo van Antwerpen
- Zoo Berlin
- Bristol Zoo

If your wish is to be transported back in time the St. Petersburg Zoo is the place for you.

There are many more zoos with also sizeable numbers of historical structures, some of which very worthwhile like:
- ZSL London Zoo
- Wroclaw Zoo
- Zoo Leipzig

Some of the oldest zoos of Europe have actually gotten rid of a lot of their heritage, this is particularly true for Copenhagen, Basel & Dublin with only a few buildings left from at least 100 years old.

If you are looking for zoos showcasing a great deal of 20th century history then Diergaarde Blijdorp Rotterdam, Tierpark Berlin and Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg are good examples

Then there are also zoos with non-zoo historical buildings on their ground which are nicely incorporated, the Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Pairi Daiza, Citadelle de Besancon and Parc de Cleres would be prime examples.

That said most older zoos still have some buildings of a great age or old zoo enclosures now serving another purpose. Even modern zoos like Burgers' Zoo have (hidden) historical elements if you know where to look.


btw: please start using interpunction and a spell checker to make your posts more readable.
 
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Even fewer North American zoos prioritize their history. Toledo and Saint Louis are some exceptions to this. Each has many historic buildings with a highly renovated interior. Shedd Aquarium does, as well.
 
In North America few remain. What does remain is mostly from the 1930s, but there are some older
Best zoos for historic buildings
- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
- Bronx Zoo
- Central Park Zoo (The adjoining "Arsenal" building, while never dedicated to the zoo was where animals were kept - in the basement- in early years)
- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo retains one historic structure
- Philadelphia Zoo has a few older buildings (but nothing from the original zoo)
 
To add to the list for North America:

-the last major US zoo to display animals in the old menagerie style was probably Maryland Zoo (Baltimore) in their Main Valley, which closed in 2004, and parts of which dated to the 1870s. As far as I know their old buildings and exhibits have still not been demolished.

-Lincoln Park Zoo retains an extensive stock of pre-1930s buildings and some landscape features, including the bird house, primate house, lion house (currently being renovated), and couple of cafes that formerly housed animals. Some of the buildings are over 100 years old.

-There are a smattering of 100+ year old buildings still in use in the eastern USA. The elephant house (now rhinos) at Buffalo and bird house at Franklin Park (Boston) come to mind.

-Brookfield, Detroit, National, and San Francisco are all large zoos with extensive 1930s era buildings and/or exhibit layouts.

-the last major US zoo to be built with a full set of taxonomic animal houses (albeit hybridized with biogeography) was Milwaukee. Their recent renovation projects don't suggest any particular efforts to maintain or emphasize their midcentury architecture or semi-Hagenbeckian outdoor landscapes.
 
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San Diego and Santa Barbra both kept a few buildings and the old orange tile roofs. San Diego has kept the same reptile house since they opened it I believe. They have only changed the inside and added a section. The Los Angeles zoos original location still has some of the old grottos and cages.
 
Gondwana said:
To add to the list for North America:

-the last major US zoo to display animals in the old menagerie style was probably Maryland Zoo (Baltimore) in their Main Valley, which closed in 2004, and parts of which dated to the 1870s. As far as I know their old buildings and exhibits have still not been demolished.
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They're still there. You can sort of see some of them from the main path, and they occasionally give tours of the area. I'm waiting for them to start those again, I missed last time.

Smithsonian has quite a few old buildings, both used and unused right now. The most notable is the reptile building.

The front of the Philly Zoo is the original iron sign and ticket booths. The current ticket booth is a newer building just inside, but they left the old ones intact.
 
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