Fixing the KC Zoo (ongoing)

[dukuboy1]

I like to hear about these new improvements, and excited to know the zoo continues to add new exhibits and fill in all of the wonderful space they have for new development & exhibits. The aquarium makes sense in that it is an indoor major attraction that can do business in the cooler winter months. I recently took a weekend trip with the family to Omaha & went to the zoo. Their Zoo is awesome but they do have some very nice indoor exhibits to go along with the outdoor ones. The nice indoor stuff really serve the Zoo well when the weather is cold, hot, or rainy. KC would be wise to look at opportunities to create major attractions both indoor and outside as the look to the future.

[beautyfromashes]

I guess I wonder why the aquarium wasn’t added to the lagoon part of the zoo to make use of that natural feature.

[Major KC Fan]

Two good reasons:

The lagoon is in Africa and the aquarium is going to be an “all world” exhibit as I understand.

The former “Valley” area being developed ties in the Africa (elephants) section and the main original area of the zoo.

[flyingember]

One thing that's clear is the overall goal across many years is reducing walking distances to see animals.

The original way to walk to Africa was via the long way past the flamingos. The tram was very popular and people really didn't stop at the elephants. they used to have a tram stop and a food booth at the top of the bridge when Africa opened due to the distances

adding the polar bears in 2010 and the new orangutan stairs + exhibit off the path to Australia. this cut the distance to the Asian animals from the entrance

adding the pengiuns and sting rays before the barn from the entry and the exhibits built for the temporary koala exhibit.
the camel feeding station make it so seeing these animals didn't mean walking the long walk towards the sheep
the goats off the barn added something big from the lower exit

the restaurant cuts distances to the tropics house, you could eat lunch and to/from it. before the closest food booth to this spot was all the way back at the entrance building
The shortcut to Africa opened in ~2006 and now adding an aquarium plus the new tram stop at the spot

so the zoo is much denser in three directions from the entrance. There's still lots of space for new animals but it's a much better zoo today than even ten years ago.

[Major KC Fan]

I agree. All the steps mentioned have helped to tie the exhibits together, with more to come. Any chance we could rename this thread “Enhancing the KC Zoo”?

[Highlander]

One thing that's clear is the overall goal across many years is reducing walking distances to see animals.

The tram was very popular and people really didn't stop at the elephants. they used to have a tram stop and a food booth at the top of the bridge when Africa opened due to the distances

We usually walk to Africa and ride back so we can see the elephants along the way. One of the problems with the elephant exhibit is that it's entirely stand alone. One of the things the zoo is generally good at is creating places for small animals where some of the bigger attractions are. A good example of this is is the meerkats and all the smaller animal exhibits around the lion exhibit. It would have been nice had they included theses type of exhibits around the elephants so that one doesn't have to make a major effort just to see an elephant.

[flyingember]

Yeah, the African entry is the same way. You get there and one direction there's nothing until the other side of the lake and then there's two animals and a big gap.

The other direction the cheetas and warthogs are often out of sight, so there could be no visible animals until passing the bridge crossing.

The Lied Jungle is about 93,000 sq feet with paths around
Without moving any animals there's about 100,000 sq ft of space, give or take, at the African entry area

I would like to see all the current entry buildings removed and a major structure put in with a jungle exhibit. End the tram inside the building where you enter a tunnel and there's a giant glass walled jungle scene across from the line. Keep the boat house as is, but setup covered walkways with level access. Enclose the beginning of the sky safari so as you're going up you are above part of the jungle and you exit out over the water. There can be two big doors that can be closed and have gaps for the the cable in winter.

Setup a rooftop restaurant with views over the plains animals or a lower level interior view of the jungle

[AlkaliAxel]

This seems like very good news

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 73346.html

A $75 mil aquarium and ocean exhibit is going to be built at the zoo and done by early 2023.

-A study done by the zoo found that this massive exhibit will increase visitors by 300,000 per year.

This is big, our zoo needed a much bigger water presence.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

I still would really appreciate a section of the zoo with local wildlife, I feel as though that’s lacking in a lot of US Zoos

[cityscape]

I still would really appreciate a section of the zoo with local wildlife, I feel as though that’s lacking in a lot of US Zoos

Like squirrels, deer and trash pandas?

[Anthony_Hugo98]

I still would really appreciate a section of the zoo with local wildlife, I feel as though that’s lacking in a lot of US Zoos

Like squirrels, deer and trash pandas?

Precisely, especially the trash panda, can we make that the name on plaque for the exhibit?

[dukuboy1]

this is great news and will be a nice attraction for sure. Help get those visitors and revenue to keep the momentum going for the zoo. Would love for them to start working on the proposed "tiger trail" and other improvements to the Asian animal exhibits. The zoo has so much land/area to expand and improve that with the revenue and private investments, and some public, they can over time create a unique regional attraction.

they won't touch the Omaha Zoo, which IMO is the 2nd best Zoo in the US (behind San Diego zoo). But it can still be a great attraction for the city as a must do tourist destination

[flyingember]

I still would really appreciate a section of the zoo with local wildlife, I feel as though that’s lacking in a lot of US Zoos

An Ozarks exhibit would work well. It has the animal diversity to be interesting.

The large area north of Australia or across from the Elephants both seems like a good spot. Put in a very large black bear exhibit as a centerpiece.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

I still would really appreciate a section of the zoo with local wildlife, I feel as though that’s lacking in a lot of US Zoos

An Ozarks exhibit would work well. It has the animal diversity to be interesting.

The large area north of Australia or across from the Elephants both seems like a good spot. Put in a very large black bear exhibit as a centerpiece.

This right here. It’s some low hanging fruit that would add so much to the experience there

[Major KC Fan]

The new aquarium will really help tie the upper and lower parts of the zoo together, especially with the renovation of the African elephant exhibit and the addition of the tram stop there. The next new project should be the proposed “predator canyon” that would tie the Asia/Australia are to the red barn and playground areas together. It was formerly the ape house area, which unfortunately couldn’t be saved due to foundation and asbestos problems. The ape house was an iconic structure and is a great historic loss for the zoo, as is the bear pits area where the new aquarium is sited.
Another potential tie-in project would be to expand the old main zoo building, now a tropics exhibit to the south to link up with the new aquarium.
All that being said, there are many exhibits in the Africa section that need to be updated, both in the public and behind the scenes areas. There are numerous infrastructure issues that need to be addressed. All of this takes money and expansion of the zoo tax beyond Jackson and Clay counties would be extremely helpful, especially if Johnson County,KS were added. The problem is to get Kansas politicians to support the tax. I think designating part of the tax from Johnson County to the Deanna Rose facility would make it an easier political sell.

[kcjak]

I'd like to see the zoo build a hotel with rooms overlooking some of the animals and find a way to couple it with the zoo's overnight tours (which need to be marketed better). The layout isn't really great for this in the current state, but seems like it could be a big draw. Not sure if there are any other zoos that have hotels on site - maybe Animal Kingdom at Disney World and I know the zoo in Wichita has one in the planning stages.

[Major KC Fan]

An interesting concept but again a lot of money. Plus the reluctance of many to be in the Swope Park area at night, though events such as Jazzoo, Brew at the Zoo and Starlight show that the general public will attend events in the park at night. This concept might gain support if the planned expansions at the zoo become actualities. There would need to be plenty of all weather facilities to generate year round demand.

[moderne]

Interesting that they are using the existing valley topography to insert this. This should mean the end of the Sea Life at Crown Center. Move out also Legoland and there is space for Target?

[flyingember]

An interesting concept but again a lot of money. Plus the reluctance of many to be in the Swope Park area at night, though events such as Jazzoo, Brew at the Zoo and Starlight show that the general public will attend events in the park at night. This concept might gain support if the planned expansions at the zoo become actualities. There would need to be plenty of all weather facilities to generate year round demand.

A hotel on the grounds where you get a package of dinner, a night visit, the room and exclusive morning hours could work. Maybe do something really small scale like a 20 room boutique space.

One big hole in the zoo is lack of behind the scenes exhibits. Some animals have to go inside for winter so making them accessible year round would help a lot with attendance.

[Highlander]

The new aquarium will really help tie the upper and lower parts of the zoo together, especially with the renovation of the African elephant exhibit and the addition of the tram stop there. The next new project should be the proposed “predator canyon” that would tie the Asia/Australia are to the red barn and playground areas together. It was formerly the ape house area, which unfortunately couldn’t be saved due to foundation and asbestos problems. The ape house was an iconic structure and is a great historic loss for the zoo, as is the bear pits area where the new aquarium is sited.
Another potential tie-in project would be to expand the old main zoo building, now a tropics exhibit to the south to link up with the new aquarium.
All that being said, there are many exhibits in the Africa section that need to be updated, both in the public and behind the scenes areas. There are numerous infrastructure issues that need to be addressed. All of this takes money and expansion of the zoo tax beyond Jackson and Clay counties would be extremely helpful, especially if Johnson County,KS were added. The problem is to get Kansas politicians to support the tax. I think designating part of the tax from Johnson County to the Deanna Rose facility would make it an easier political sell.

Excellent post. There are two major spatial gaps at the zoo, between the main entrance area/penguin area and Africa and between the same general penguin area and Australia. The Aquarium will be a nice fill in for one of those large spatial gaps. I would have preferred increasing the number of species as the zoo is almost totally bereft of North American species (other than the polar bear, otters and sea lions) but the aquarium will be a nice addition nonetheless. Perhaps a North American exhibit could be located between the Barn and Australia where the Ape House use to be. After that, even some of the well established areas, particularly Africa, have some pretty big gaps with no animals that need to be addressed.

While the zoo has added some nice exhibits under the current director's watch, I do not like the direction he has taken the zoo. A lot of money was spent establishing the continental theme (a theme I really embrace) and I thought it should have been continued rather than the piecemeal abandonment that we've seen since he has arrived. Nonetheless, the zoo has done well considering it's funded by Jackson and Clay Counties alone. I agree the zoo should be funded by all of the counties in the metro (although Wyandotte would never go along - but Johnson County might).