Zoo Atlanta Zoo Atlanta to get a makeover

I'm sure that many of you have read my recent review of Zoo Atlanta on the "Snowleopard's epic road trip" thread. I pointed out that the zoo was small, and after giant pandas, gorillas and orangutans the collection is a little sparse. I would love to see this little zoo undergo a massive renovation, but can it come up with the enormous amount of cash that will be required?
 
There's a lot of money in Atlanta...I mentioned this plan earlier in the zoo atlanta thread. It seems that the zoo has bold plans to compete/complement the aquarium hippos, bonobos, native georgia fauna, and manatees! It appears that Torre Design will be designing the masterplan, they have done great work in zoos (ie Audubon), but their designs are rather conformed...many of their exhibits are quite similarly built. And they rarely seem to think outside of their box of original designs. Much of their work in other zoos are very similar to each other: for example Audubon & Tampa & Memphis; Norfolk & Peoria.
 
Zoo Atlanta's reptile house already has an impressive collection, but in a sadly outdated facility. A $14 million replacement building will mean that yet again a zoo located in one of the southern States in the U.S. will have a fantastic reptile house. However, the new MOLA at the Fort Worth Zoo might still have the crown as the # 1 reptile/amphibian collection in North America when it opens in a month or two.
 
Here's a link to a video showing renderings of the new entrance area.
http://youtu.be/F4nuighT76M

Based on the site plan at the end of the video, it looks like the new elephant exhibit will allow the zoo to possibly mix elephants with other species, and provide space to house bull elephants. Rhinos seem to be in the current elephant exhibit, flamingos may still be in place, the parakeet aviary and possibly warthog and meerkat exhibits seem like they will be removed or displaced by the new exhibits.
 
Are you referring to a map of the 2008 master plan or the savanna exhibit expansion?

A map of the 2008 master plan can be found here:

http://www.t-dcl.com/public/images/projects/compressed/Atlanta_Masterplan_w_titles_1100.jpg

However, this may now be quite out of date. This was developed before the City of Atlanta donated the Cyclorama property to the zoo and the decision was made to renovate the zoo's current entrance. The 2008 master plan called for moving the entrance to the other side of the zoo (adjoining the Boulevard parking lot), whereas now the entrance will remain at the Cherokee parking lot. The old master plan also relocated the African savanna exhibit to the current children's zoo area. I imagine this will also be changed given that the current savanna exhibit is being expanded behind the Cyclorama. I know that a new master plan has been proposed, but I haven't seen it.

If you want to see a map of the Cyclorama and expanded savanna project, there is one here:

Ursa International • Cyclorama

If you're wondering where this would fit on the 2008 master plan, it would roughly be between the areas marked "Event Lodge" and "Bird Complex".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top