Kalaw
Well-Known Member
I was wondering what has been done with locations of closed zoos. How were spaces once occupied by animals reimagined and transformed?
I have two examples of my own, but wondered if any other examples exist. Feel free to correct my summaries below if they are innaccurate.
SeaQuarium Weston-super-Mare:
After sadly closing in 2019, the SeaQuarium, sitting on stilts that, in high tide, meant that the whole building stood just four metres above the sea. As well as an aquarium, around a quarter of the building was a cafe, which you could enter without entering the aquarium. This cafe has remained and been expanded, with the addition of a golf course.
Southampton Zoo:
One that I have never visited, but as my entire paternal family were raised in Southampton, one that I am somewhat familiar with through many stories. Over the years, it has held animals as noteworthy as elephant seals and Northern White Rhinos, but the animals were in awful conditions, with the zoo not even 2 acres in size, and its owner also running a circus with many animals. In 1985, it closed, and has since been transformed into the Hawthorns Urban Wildlife Centre. It was already part of a major park, the Southampton Common, so the transition was a smooth one. In stark contrast with the zoo that came before it, Hawthorns is lovely, with woodland and a lake filled with wildlife, and a small cafe attached. As I still have family members nearby, I often visit it, and am always fascinated and heartbroken by the fact that elephants, rhinos, giraffes and great apes once inhabited this small a space. Sadly (or perhaps luckily), there is no evidence barring some historical signs of the zoo that was, with every former enclosure having been demolished.
Zoo de l'Orangerie, Strasbourg:
After many complaints that the animal welfare standards were not up-to-date, and a subsequent lack of public interest, l'Orangerie closed its doors in 2022. Over the years it had held small mammals and many birds, with rarities such as Amur Leopard Cat and Tonkean Macaque all having been present over the years. It also included a Mini-Ferme for domestics, elsewhere in the Parc de l'Orangerie, which remains open, and domestics will mostly be the focus of the new collection. The other focus will be on education, particularly around the native wildlife of Alsace, potentially with some captive native species arriving for a new zoo in 2024. The exact approach should have been decided upon by now (the deadline for proposals was September 4th), but sadly, I have heard no announcement on the matter. The only animals still at the zoo are Barbary Sheep, who were too ill to be moved to their new home in a different zoo, and instead had their enclosures, in an old rotunda, combined with the other nearby habitats, resulting in their living space being tripled. They are looked after by volunteers, as the Zoo currently has no staff to my knowledge, but when the zoo reopens, this should change.
(View of the former Zoo)
(Signage explaining the plans for the zoo)
As noted, I would be very interested in hearing other examples of interesting transformations.
I have two examples of my own, but wondered if any other examples exist. Feel free to correct my summaries below if they are innaccurate.
SeaQuarium Weston-super-Mare:
After sadly closing in 2019, the SeaQuarium, sitting on stilts that, in high tide, meant that the whole building stood just four metres above the sea. As well as an aquarium, around a quarter of the building was a cafe, which you could enter without entering the aquarium. This cafe has remained and been expanded, with the addition of a golf course.
Southampton Zoo:
One that I have never visited, but as my entire paternal family were raised in Southampton, one that I am somewhat familiar with through many stories. Over the years, it has held animals as noteworthy as elephant seals and Northern White Rhinos, but the animals were in awful conditions, with the zoo not even 2 acres in size, and its owner also running a circus with many animals. In 1985, it closed, and has since been transformed into the Hawthorns Urban Wildlife Centre. It was already part of a major park, the Southampton Common, so the transition was a smooth one. In stark contrast with the zoo that came before it, Hawthorns is lovely, with woodland and a lake filled with wildlife, and a small cafe attached. As I still have family members nearby, I often visit it, and am always fascinated and heartbroken by the fact that elephants, rhinos, giraffes and great apes once inhabited this small a space. Sadly (or perhaps luckily), there is no evidence barring some historical signs of the zoo that was, with every former enclosure having been demolished.
Zoo de l'Orangerie, Strasbourg:
After many complaints that the animal welfare standards were not up-to-date, and a subsequent lack of public interest, l'Orangerie closed its doors in 2022. Over the years it had held small mammals and many birds, with rarities such as Amur Leopard Cat and Tonkean Macaque all having been present over the years. It also included a Mini-Ferme for domestics, elsewhere in the Parc de l'Orangerie, which remains open, and domestics will mostly be the focus of the new collection. The other focus will be on education, particularly around the native wildlife of Alsace, potentially with some captive native species arriving for a new zoo in 2024. The exact approach should have been decided upon by now (the deadline for proposals was September 4th), but sadly, I have heard no announcement on the matter. The only animals still at the zoo are Barbary Sheep, who were too ill to be moved to their new home in a different zoo, and instead had their enclosures, in an old rotunda, combined with the other nearby habitats, resulting in their living space being tripled. They are looked after by volunteers, as the Zoo currently has no staff to my knowledge, but when the zoo reopens, this should change.
(View of the former Zoo)
(Signage explaining the plans for the zoo)
As noted, I would be very interested in hearing other examples of interesting transformations.
