The city of Lafayette, Indiana has one of the oldest—and best—small zoos in the country. Recent renovations, thoughtful and modern designs, and focusing on providing for their local guests as top priority are a few reasons they are successful.
St. Augustine Alligator Farm: What’s in a Name?
St. Augustine Alligator Farm, located in beautiful and historic tourism destination, St. Augustine, Florida, holds the honor of being the only zoo in the world to care for every species of crocodilian known to man. In addition to the alligators, crocodiles, gharials, and caimans, the zoo is also a showcase for native Floridian birds, especially during nesting season in spring and early summer. The nine-acre zoo itself is beautiful. It’s all old-growth live oaks, dripping in Spanish moss, but one of the greatest attributes of the Farm is its preponderance of demonstrations, shows, and keeper chats. Does the Zoo’s name hinder its success due to its reliance on often first-time visitors?
ZooWorld: Embracing the Kitsch
If you’ve ever spent time at a popular beachside destination in the U.S., you are probably well-acquainted with the kitschy, uniquely American, tourist trap vibe that often accompanies these places. Panama City Beach is no exception. Brightly colored signs dot the roads inviting guests into themed or ramshackle seafood joints. Mini-golf courses with tall waterfalls and pirate ships are squeezed between ice cream shops and places to rent scooters and slingshot cars. It is in this context that we delighted in the tourist destination of ZooWorld. To be sure, the five-acre ZooWorld is not without its problems, but overall, the experience is happy and fun with a dose of humor, and the park is clean and comfortable, if not outdated in places.
Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park: No Frills Old Florida
Along the old stretch of Hwy 19--where folks escaping the winter blues from ‘up north’ would travel in search of Florida sunshine, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park remains a rest stop for today’s scenic driver. In its glory days, the park was a vintage Old Florida gem; one of many kitschy tourist traps that dotted the Florida roads before Disney infilled the wetlands in Orlando to stake its claim. As with many of its kind, business declined in the 70s, and decimated by new highways and the flush of theme parks, the park was taken over by the state to become a government entity--and the experience feels as such.
Tallahassee Museum: Immersed in History
Tallahassee Museum is a hybrid institution focusing on experiential storytelling of the region—natural and cultural. History and wildlife are presented segregated, colliding at the farm featuring authentic historic structures and equipment alongside heritage farm animals. Set within an old growth forest and stunning cedar swamp, the experience is magical, if rustic and passive. Even with the addition of an impressive and affordable ropes course, attendance is lagging, illustrating the ‘one and done’ nature of the experience today. What’s missing?
Zoo New York: A New York State of Experience
The rustic New York State Zoo in Watertown, New York reflects a clear brand and mission, and translates those into a cohesive guest experience. Not without its flaws—mainly due to outdated habitats, the zoo feels larger than its 30 acres due to an overwhelming sense of being lost in an authentic landscape complete with historic interpretation.
Giraffe Ranch: Luxury Model, Backyard Experience
Giraffe Ranch, a privately owned, family-run safari experience, located in rural Dade City, Florida benefits from the tourism market of Orlando. Drawing from decades of knowledge and experience in the zoo community, the owners created an intimate and beautiful experience focused on one-on-one interactions between the keepers, guests, and the animals. The high ticket price per person, however, sets expectations very high, and although the experience is lovely, feels like it misses the luxury price point. Focusing on improvements to the core of the facility could begin to address this issue.
Rosamond Gifford Zoo: Developing the BIG Identity
Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York is a modern, small zoo saddled with the challenges many face: steady, slow attendance growth; mish-mash of design ideas; nearly zero winter attendance; outdated exhibits and buildings next to innovative ones. Focusing on telling the story that the ‘small zoo can do big innovative things’ by building on the existing modern exterior entry experience and green practices will solidify its foundation for the future.
Hattiesburg Zoo: The Littlest Big Zoo
Hattiesburg Zoo in Hattiesburg, Mississippi—home to Ole Miss—is a small zoo (12 acres) in a small town (50,000). Yet, despite the ‘small’ challenges, Hattiesburg Zoo delivers on a level of guest immersion that would be expected from much larger facilities. Highlights include the steampunk education center, splash play area at the core of the zoo, themed Africa and overnight camp, Australia, and children’s play area. However, despite the well-thought out place-making and storytelling, the zoo is missing one core element—the heart and soul.
The Wild Animal Park: The Cabela’s of Zoos
Relatively new and growing, The Wild Animal Park, in rural central New York still has its brand new shine. Efficiently well-planned, aesthetically pleasing, and a wide variety of animals and interaction possibilities makes this a great short stop for road-trippers. However, a few details detract from its potential, including lack of naturalistic vegetation & topography and the compact nature of the site.
Alexandria Zoo: A Chihuahua of Zoos
From the outside, the Alexandria Zoo in Louisiana seems like many of the small zoos we all know and love: a city-owned facility for the enjoyment of the town’s residents and the surrounding rural area, usually located inside a park, sometimes in the rougher part of town. An unassuming (read: underwhelming) entry sequence with barely visible signage and an undersized parking lot. Check, check, and check.
But once inside (and past the entry / gift shop / administration building), the Zoo reveals herself. A historically successful, 30+ acre zoo with triple the penetration of its local city’s population, the zoo has been able to invest deeply in immersive, thematic and deeply layered and complex exhibit experiences. With this high level of guest experience implemented historically the Zoo faces a challenge for its future—continuing to present this high level of immersion within a diminishing budget of a small town.
Adirondack Animal Land: Tough Love
Adirondack Animal Land in upstate New York benefits from a stunning site filled with tall pine forest and natural stream and features a nice safari experience. Yet, this small zoo is a great example of a private zoo in need of improvements to incorporate modern animal husbandry and welfare standards. The zoo has great potential, but in its current state, makes for an experience that may not be acceptable by many.
Seneca Park Zoo: An East Coast Charmer
County-owned, AZA accredited Seneca Park Zoo is a twenty-acre gem set into Olmsted-designed Seneca Park in Rochester, New York. Unlike many publicly owned small zoos, this one is unique for many reasons. The biggest, and most challenging, lies within the site itself—a long linear sliver of land following the edge of the park and not nearly wide enough for a loop path. This challenge manages to become an attribute in surprising ways.
Utica Zoo: Oktoberfest All Year-Round!
The iconic Bavarian building at the heart of the 40 acre, AZA accredited Utica Zoo, perfectly personifies the character and soul of the small zoo itself—a reflection of the dominant German population in Utica at the time of its opening in 1920. Utica Zoo is an adorable regional gem, but improvements in service access efficiency, upgrades to older areas of the zoo, and deeper thinking related to the selection of animals are needed.
Abilene Zoo: On the Cusp of a Growth Spurt
Frank Buck Zoo: Building Repeatability
Caldwell Zoo: A Timeless Ballad
The Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas is a large ‘small’ zoo located in a small town. Drawing 250,000 in annual attendance from a drive time of about 1.5 hours, the family zoo is a great example of the best of small zoos—lovingly and thoughtfully designed using a blend of modern, innovative zoo design techniques with clean, timeless designs and light touches of theming set in a lush landscape with water features. A timeless, beautiful zoo borne from love—and a desire to be a community asset.
Austin Zoo: Keeping it Weird-ly Underperforming
The 20-acre private zoo tucked into the hillside on the outskirts of growing Austin, Texas metro has plenty of challenges to tackle, but the beauty of the site and its proximity to Austin (and being the only zoo within an easy drive of the city) means the Zoo has almost unlimited untapped potential to become very successful—and a “weird” little gemstone to the community.
Happy Anniversary! 10 Years of DesigningZoos.com
Can you believe this summer marks ten years of my little corner of the internet talking about design and the future of zoos and aquariums? Although my posting has become more infrequent as my professional life has evolved, you--my supportive and sometimes thoughtfully critical reader--remain constant. I owe you a huge Thank You for reading my ramblings, and contributing your thoughts. For funsies, I thought we'd review a few of the highlights from the past 10 years and over 200 posts!
Top Ten All-Time-Most-Popular Posts (by visits)
10. "Visitors: An Overlooked Species at the Zoo" (2013) by guest blogger and colleague, Eileen (Ostermeier) Hill. Discusses the critical importance of visitor studies at zoos, some hurdles to studies, and the role of designers relative to visitor studies.
9. "The Future of Zoos: Blurring the Boundaries" (2014) a second entry by guest blogger and obviously brilliant colleague, Eileen Hill. Powerpoint presentation with script about trends in zoos today and how they may play out into zoos of the future. Eileen proposes zoos of the future will by hybrids of multiple science based institutions.
8. "St. Louis Zoo's SEA LION SOUND" (2012). Showcasing the then-new exhibit at the Zoo including fly-thru video, photos of new exhibit, and interview with one of the architects from PGAV Destinations who helped bring the design into reality.
7. "SAFARI AFRICA! Revealed at Columbus Zoo" (2012). Announcement of the ground-breaking of the eventual AZA Top Honors in Design award-winning Heart of Africa (renamed). Includes renderings and site plan.
6. "Underdogs: The Appeal of the Small Zoo" (2013). Exploration of what makes small zoos so appealing to visitors, and meaningful to work for as a designer. Features Binder Park Zoo, Central Florida Zoo, and Big Bear Alpine Zoo.
5. "In Marius' Honor" (2014) by guest blogger and now Project Manager at the esteemed Monterey Bay Aquarium, Trisha Crowe. Trisha explores her emotional reaction to the Copenhagen Zoo's disposal of Marius the giraffe, and implores readers to support zoos, no matter your stance on animal rights.
4. "Small and Sad: Dubai Zoo's Relocation on Hold Again" (2009). Occurred to me today, should have been title "Small and SAND", but the sad state of the old zoo is what made this post so popular. Includes design plans and renderings--which I am sure are woefully out of date. Anyone have any updates??
3. "How to Become a Zoo Designer" (2014). After about 25,000 emails from aspiring zoo designers asking similar questions, I just went ahead and wrote it up to shortcut a step... Still, feel free to email me--I always write back. Let's be pen pals!
2. "The Next Zoo Design Revolution" (2008). One of my very first posts, which explains the popularity. Some say naïve, some say gutsy look at incremental revolution in zoos. The future of zoos has been examined at least 300 times since this one, but in re-reading, I see some kernels of accuracy. Expect an update soon...
And in the #1 spot....
1. "A Quick Lesson in Zoo Design History" (2008). Perhaps my second post ever, which again explains it's number 1 spot. A not-as-advertised look at zoo design history which, I have a feeling, has been referenced by many of the 25,000 students (above) in their zoo projects. Holla at me if you cited me!
Top Ten Recommended Reads for Zoo Designers (aside from those above)
10. "To Safari or Night Safari" (2008). I'm a sucker for the title. But this post examines the very slow to catch on trend of after-hours programming or extended zoo hours as a feasible method to increase attendance. Post-posting amendment: in particular, this is a great strategy for targeting adults without kids.
9. "Does Winter Have to be a Dead Zone at the Zoo?" (2013). I cheated a little on this one. I didn't actually post to DZ.com, but to my blog at Blooloop.com where many of my more recent posts have been landing. This one discusses another strategy to increase attendance by targeting the most difficult time of year for temperate zoos: winter.
8. "Zoo Exhibits in Three Acts" (2011). Storytelling in zoo exhibits, told through, what else?: a story.
7. "8 Characteristics of Brand Experience" (2018). A new one! Understanding what makes strong brands so very strong is important and applicable to new attractions at zoos and aquariums. Examined through the lens of non-zoo brands, like my fav: OrangeTheory.
6. "Interactivity and Zoos" (2013). Examining the different modes of interactivity that are available in zoos, and how they can be applied to experience. A good primer.
5. "How Animal Behavior Drives Zoo Design" (2011). Starting with animals in design can be overwhelming. What information is pertinent to a designer, and what is just interesting to know. Another good primer for learning the basics of zoo design.
4. "Chasing Big Cats: Snow Leopards and Perseverance" (2017). Being a good designer is about so much more than just having cool ideas and being able to communicate them well. Learn the qualities intangible qualities that make good designers, GREAT. Don't be afraid...hint, hint.
3. "Making Responsible Tacos: Conservation Brand Perception at Zoos and Aquariums" (2015). Adapted from a talk I gave, I examine how aspirational brand should translate to experience in zoos and aquariums using the popular taco analogy. Yum. Tacos.
2. "Five Zoo Innovations that have been around for Decades"Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (2014). Again, pulled from Blooloop. A series of 5 posts examining design elements and characteristics that American zoos have been implementing for decades. This series was an angry reaction to the 'revolutionary' design of metal pods floating through a zoo in Europe. A woman scorned...publishes 5 posts to prove how you don't know anything about innovation. Ha!
1. "Zoos in a Post Truth World" (2017). What every zoo and aquarium advocate needs to consider in this continued atmosphere of skepticism, critique, and distrust. As a zoo designer, you must be aware of changing perceptions and the power we have to shape them.
Top Ten Things I Learned in the Last Ten Years (Blogging or Otherwise...)
10. I'm not shy; I'm introverted
9. How to poop in a hole while wearing 3 three layers of snow pants
9a. Always pack enough Pepto tabs (at least 2 per day while away)
8. I'm not good at social media (see: 10 years of blogging and 600 Twitter followers, probably mostly for cat pics)
7. And speaking of cats, the rubbery buttons of a TV's remote control makes said remote an easy tool to remove cat hair from sofas and pants
6. I sleep better when flying in Business Class
5. Always pay the extra money to hire movers to load and unload that U-Haul
4. Writing isn't hard. Just start typing and...
3. Confidence
2. I lose all 'adultness' around ice cream and baby animals
1. Zoo and aquarium people are really the best people in the world.
Here's to many more decades of Zoo & Aquarium design!
With love and respect--
Your friend, Stacey
Zoo Review: Zoo Zurich
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Zoo Zurich is one of the best zoos in Europe, if not the world. You may recognize the Zoo from its architectural ode to elephants from local modernists, Markus Schietsch Architecture. But the Zoo is much more than that.
Opened in 1929 and the home of famous zoo scientist and animal behaviorist, Heini Hediger, the Zoo surprisingly retains very little of its original history. The oldest features look to be no older than from the mid-20th Century.
Although many of these mid-century exhibits are now clearly out-of-date, the Zoo benefits from a gorgeous, terrain-filled site with lots of natural vegetation, and the zoo team has creatively, if not superficially, renovated the oldest exhibits, even while those exhibits are awaiting their fates at the hands of bulldozers.
Since the mid-1990s, focus for the Zoo has been on innovation, expansion, storytelling, and improved husbandry & welfare, ultimately creating a clear division between the new exhibits and the older section.
The new section includes an absolutely massive indoor rainforest exhibit (featuring more botanicals than fauna--proving once again, the European audience is far more patient than Americans), the previously mentioned elephant complex merging post-modernism with Asian thematic immersion (to a questionable level of success), a children’s zoo, and an under-construction African savanna.
The older section of the zoo has been renovated into a passable South American exhibit, with moments of brilliance (see the parrot interpretive), and a visually interesting Mongolian steppe.
They recently opened a very passable renovation of an older exhibit building and outlying exhibits focused on Australia featuring a wallaby, kangaroo and emu walk-through. Multiple koala exhibits with indoor and outdoor enclosures are also included.
A few other random exhibits are mixed into the zoo for good measure, but overall, this zoo deserves your time and respect--and to keep an eye on where they are headed in the future.
