Zoo expansion expected to increase attendance

Dickerson Park Zoo is undergoing extensive construction in the form of new animal exhibits, renovation and expansion of existing buildings, and further development of the zoo's long-term plan.

Owned by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, the zoo's estimated construction cost of $4 million is funded by a quarter-cent countywide sales tax that was passed in November 2001.

"(The construction) is further development of our master plan," said Mike Crocker, Dickerson Park Zoo superintendent. "We had a master plan that goes back to the mid-1980s and this is just simply moving along toward completion of that master plan. When this work is all complete, it will have accomplished the majority of the master plan as far as specific exhibits that are outlined."

General contractor Flintco Construction Company began work at the zoo in March 2003, and the contract completion date is March 6, 2004.

Kelly Hequembourg, Flintco project engineer, said the project is on schedule to meet that completion date.

Construction subcontractors include Prestress Casting Company, Ron Stanley Excavating and Architectural Masonry. "We've got quite a few more (subcontractors) coming in that are just getting ready to start," said Hequembourg.

Crocker said the construction includes an expansion of the maintenance building, renovation of the animal hospital and the addition of a quarantine building, replacement of the African hoofed-animal barn, an additional public restroom, new animal exhibits, and improved homes for the Asian elephants, wild turkey and white-tailed deer.

"With the new construction, we'll be adding wolves and mountain lions (to the Missouri habitats area). We already have our Asian elephants, the centerpiece of the Asia area. We'll also be adding tigers, gibbons and an African primate exhibit that will feature black-and-white colobus monkeys," said Melinda Mancuso, public relations and marketing director for the zoo.

Crocker added, "The elephants will be moving out of their present public display to the new one, and that building is going to all be renovated for giraffe space. An elevated viewing deck also will be added on the west side of that building so people can see giraffes and see them at eye level."

Hequembourg estimated the buildings will have approximately 24,000 square feet of space. Additional construction includes access roads, renovated sidewalks and expanded walkways. "Most of this work going on right now is in the northwest part of the zoo," Crocker said.

Challenges

Brent Stevens, architect with H-Design Group, said, "Animals are extremely challenging to design around, to keep contained and (ensure the) safety of the keepers. So there is a lot of research done. We hired a zoo consultant for this project, so that helped out, but the hardest part is the learning curve of how to contain animals."

He added, "The elephant building, for example, has to be designed for a very heavy animal going about 20 miles an hour, so that kind of changes the way you think about designing a building."

Added Hequembourg, "Being a zoo project, there are some considerations that you don't see in everyday construction. Fences have to be designed to withstand elephants leaning and running into them. There have been some unique features that have been looked at. H-Design has done a good job coordinating activities and working with us to resolve any problems we come across."

Accessibility is another challenge on the project.

"We're building on a fairly steep site and to accommodate accessibility was quite a challenge, but I think we've done a pretty good job of getting the ramping and everything needed," said Stevens.

According to Hequembourg, Flintco has encountered only a few circumstances that required different building methods than those used in a normal setting. One example is the elephant habitat.

"For the elephant yard, we are putting together a fence approximately 1,100 feet long that is made up entirely of railroad steel. So it's definitely unique," he said.

New attractions

The zoo's attendance through the end of June of this year is 91,761, which is less than the 97,000 visitors the zoo had projected for that period. The zoo's 2002 attendance of 159,730 was slightly lower than 2001's 169,508.

It is hoped the new animals added to the zoo wolves, mountain lions, tigers, gibbons and colobus monkeys will bring in more people, Mancuso said.

Crocker expects the additional exhibits will do just that.

"(Increased attendance) would be typical. When new exhibits are open, at least in the short-term, they are a boost to attendance," he said.