Woodland Park Zoo's Nocturnal House, could we see a return?

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

The old "Day House" at the Zoo used to be one of my favorite places in the entire park since it was packed to the brim with various herps. However, I don't remember anything from the "Nocturnal House" since I never got a chance to visit (being too young) before it closed in 2010.
Now what I didn't know was that in 2016, the Zoo actually had plans to renovate and re-open the Nocturnal House in 2018 due to how much support and outcry there was from the public to bring it back. Seen in this report here from the Zoo. Unfortunately, a fire later that year destroyed the building, and the plans subsequently were scrapped.

With the "Forest Trailhead" exhibit opening up next year, this is kind of like the successor to the "Day House" since it's sitting in the old spot and consists of a mix of similar species (Matschie's Tree Kangaroos and various herps). I'd also say the "Reptile Realm" could also be a part of that "successor" mix as the Zoo is trying to bring back their herp collection to what it once was. This got me thinking, could we see a successor to the "Nocturnal House" in the future?
Especially with the "World of Darkness" re-opening at the Bronx this Summer, and with how good Omaha's is, we could see more Zoo's lean towards experimenting with Nocturnal Houses again after disappearing. I'm hoping that if Bronx's is well received at the opening by the general public (the hype is already there, everyone I've seen is stoked that it's coming back), perhaps WPZ could put it back on their radar for the future.

Since the "Forest Trailhead" took up the space that used to have the Nocturnal House on it, I'm hoping there's a chance they could repurpose the massive grass field that's between the Carousel and Forest Trailhead to possibly build a Nocturnal House there. That field has been empty for as long as I can remember. I think they do some events there but that's only a few weeks out of the year. It'd also sit adjacent to "Forest Trailhead" like how the old house sat adjacent from the "Day House".
This could also see the return of species that used to be in the old Nocturnal House (Bats unspecified species, Flying Foxes, Two-toed Sloths, Southern Tamandua, etc) who have since been phased out, while also bringing in new species (Caimen, Crested Porcupine, Kinkajou) actually in the Zoo piece, they did mention "Small, arboreal primates" so perhaps things like Loris' or Bushbabies.

The public support and interest is there, but the Zoo has a lot they're already doing these next few years so I wouldn't expect anything soon. But hopefully they could take a page out of the past and put a new Nocturnal House on their radar, especially with how well "World of Darkness" is expecting to be perceived. It's kind of the only thing the Zoo is missing besides an Arctic focused exhibit (but the Point Defiance Zoo already has the covered and I know the two facilities don't want to overlap in species very much). Fingers crossed

 

[snowleopard]

The "massive grass field" will likely remain as it is for a long time. Each summer, Woodland Park Zoo has a series of ZooTunes concerts and this year sees 13 concerts announced and the majority of them are already sold out. Artists include the likes of Elvis Costello, Devo, Ben Harper and Wilco.

This year is the 41st annual ZooTunes and the field is where all the attendees sit as they face the stage and listen to the shows. These concerts are a major source of fundraising for the zoo, plus throughout the year I've visited when there's been Mother's Day, Halloween and various other special functions that utilize the field. Even when there's nothing going on, families always picnic there during warm summer days.

I love visiting Nocturnal Houses, but I'm not hopeful that Woodland Park Zoo will open anything near their event space. Since the debut of the penguin exhibit (2009) and the west entrance (2010), the zoo will have gone a very long time with nothing substantial until the Forest Trailhead complex opens next summer. There was the 2013-2015 Banyan Wilds zone, but it consists of a small aviary, some otters, and pre-existing Tiger and Sloth Bear exhibits that were updated. Otherwise, it's 17 years between the penguins and the upcoming Red Panda/Tree Kangaroo/Kea exhibits, with the closure/departure of elephants, hippos, a Nocturnal House and a Reptile House during that era.