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John Ball Zoo


mjak68

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Zoo will break ground this month on new $4.1 Million lion exhibit

To be completed by 2008. Some highlights:

- $4.1 Million exhibit is being privately funded through donations

- It will be one of the largest of its kind in the country and feature a unique forest-like setting instead of the more commonly seen open savanna.

- First major step in the zoo's $75 - $100 Million planned renovation project

- The exhibit will be built on a third of an acre nestled between the chimpanzee (Mokomboso Valley) and African Veldt attractions.

- The plan calls for recreating one of only two forested areas in Africa where lions live.

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"Stringer said the design embraces the zoo's hilly terrain and features an artificial tree that can be heated or cooled.

'The hope is you'll see them climb trees like they do in these areas of Africa,' she said."

Nice! It's good to see one of the projects getting underway.

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Here's hoping they don't want to stretch their legs... :blink:

Amazingly is says that lions sleep 22 hours a day, and if they made the exhibit bigger, there's a greater chance the lions would hide in the far corners of the exhibit and sleep, where no one would see them.

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Amazingly is says that lions sleep 22 hours a day, and if they made the exhibit bigger, there's a greater chance the lions would hide in the far corners of the exhibit and sleep, where no one would see them.

You mean act naturally? We wouldn't want that...it would kill the view. :whistling:

At least this new multi-million dollar exhibit will attempt to entertain a "more natural" habitat for them. The last lion cage was just a cement cell with an old tree trunk thrown in it for their amusement. But hey, they're only awake 2 hours a day anyway...hopefully when the yellow school buses start showing up the lions will crack an eye open once in a while.

A third of an acre developed at a cost of $4,100,000? What's the cost per sq/foot on that? Quite a palace!

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You mean act naturally? We wouldn't want that...it would kill the view. :whistling:

At least this new multi-million dollar exhibit will attempt to entertain a "more natural" habitat for them. The last lion cage was just a cement cell with an old tree trunk thrown in it for their amusement. But hey, they're only awake 2 hours a day anyway...hopefully when the yellow school buses start showing up the lions will crack an eye open once in a while.

A third of an acre developed at a cost of $4,100,000? What's the cost per sq/foot on that? Quite a palace!

I'm with you...the old exhibit was just depressing.

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A third of an acre developed at a cost of $4,100,000? What's the cost per sq/foot on that? Quite a palace!

Right around $280 / sf I believe... Much cheaper than a new condo in the Virgin Islands! (We were designing 1,100 sq ft. condo's that were selling @ around $1.1mil)

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Finally we are starting the renovations on the zoo. I'm still in shock that we didn't take Fred Meijer up on his $25,000,000 gift and also his gift of land (The Grand Rapids Golf Club) to build that amazing zoo he proposed. He even hired the designers of Disney's Animal Kingdom to design that zoo. Well, at least we are starting to improve good old John Ball Zoo.

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That is what happens when NIMBY-ism gets the upper hand. The NIMBY's didn't want the zoo to expand into John Ball Park and when the idea to take advantage of Fred Meijer's gift, the same NIMBY's didn't want the zoo to move away.

...I'm still in shock that we didn't take Fred Meijer up on his $25,000,000 gift and also his gift of land (The Grand Rapids Golf Club) to build that amazing zoo he proposed. He even hired the designers of Disney's Animal Kingdom to design that zoo. Well, at least we are starting to improve good old John Ball Zoo.
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That is what happens when NIMBY-ism gets the upper hand. The NIMBY's didn't want the zoo to expand into John Ball Park and when the idea to take advantage of Fred Meijer's gift, the same NIMBY's didn't want the zoo to move away.

Personally? I really am starting to think the NIMBYs want the zoo to just disappear.

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Finally we are starting the renovations on the zoo. I'm still in shock that we didn't take Fred Meijer up on his $25,000,000 gift and also his gift of land (The Grand Rapids Golf Club) to build that amazing zoo he proposed. He even hired the designers of Disney's Animal Kingdom to design that zoo. Well, at least we are starting to improve good old John Ball Zoo.

I actually think keeping the zoo where it is and expanding there is the better way to go. I originally wanted it to move to the Grand Rapids Golf Course land, but really it's just a big open field with a few rolling hills. The current spot has some great topography to add a lot of interest and "what's around the next corner" feel to it. Plus it keeps what could be a big attraction close to downtown and in the city.

There's actually quite a bit of space to expand too without moving into the park portion. This is from back in 2005, but it still gives a pretty good overview of the expansion "vision".

459980521_f67547a042_o.jpg

http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAn...Vision_Plan.pdf

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I actually think keeping the zoo where it is and expanding there is the better way to go. I originally wanted it to move to the Grand Rapids Golf Course land, but really it's just a big open field with a few rolling hills. The current spot has some great topography to add a lot of interest and "what's around the next corner" feel to it. Plus it keeps what could be a big attraction close to downtown and in the city.

There's actually quite a bit of space to expand too without moving into the park portion. This is from back in 2005, but it still gives a pretty good overview of the expansion "vision".

459980521_f67547a042_o.jpg

http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAn...Vision_Plan.pdf

i like how s. america only has a puma <_<

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That is a good point esp. about keeping an important attraction close to DT. Also the zoo would end cap the north east end of the Millennium Park Master Plan too which would add even more appeal.

Now does anybody have current plans of the zoo that can be posted?

I actually think keeping the zoo where it is and expanding there is the better way to go. I originally wanted it to move to the Grand Rapids Golf Course land, but really it's just a big open field with a few rolling hills. The current spot has some great topography to add a lot of interest and "what's around the next corner" feel to it. Plus it keeps what could be a big attraction close to downtown and in the city.

There's actually quite a bit of space to expand too without moving into the park portion. This is from back in 2005, but it still gives a pretty good overview of the expansion "vision".....

http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAn...Vision_Plan.pdf

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I went to the zoo today and am glad that the overhaul is starting to take place. The zoo looks quite tired. It will be nice when they start breathing new life into the place (the Chimpanzee exhibit looks nice, which is what I assume the rest of the zoo will look like).

It's a pretty setting for a zoo with all of the hills and such. The thing I find funny though is that (except for the playground), the park was absolutely lifeless. Seems like a lot of NIMBY mobilization for people who don't even use the park.

Joe

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I've always had a really strange obsession for zoo's, especially historic ones. I think I can attribute it to going to the Cincinnati Zoo when I was a little kid (I use to live there...hence all my Cincinnati examples), I can also partially attribute my afinity for architecture to that place too. They have 2 really old structures still in use today which are just really neat. Neither one is used for its original intended purposes due to the advancements and improvements made in animal habitat knowledge and displays but they still stand in some form and are tributes to the type of iconic buildings you'd like to see in any type of open space.

This is a postcard of the original Primate House, obviously this type of habitat design would not suffice to today's standards. This building I believe was constructed some time during the late 1800's.

Monkeys-1a.jpg

Here is a view of the same building throught the trees. It now houses small reptiles like snakes and lizards. Most of the building sides where the cages used to be have been filled in with vegetation and gardens. Its a shame I couldn't find a better or newer picture.

394.jpg

This was the herbivora built in 1906 and is now on the list of Natural Historic Places. It was and still is, in a way, home to the exhibits for Africa's largest land herbivores; elephants, giraffes, and omnivore; hippos. Through the years different hoofed animals such as gazelle, impalas, okapis, yaks, and wildebeest have also been featured here. This is a postcard of how it looked originally.

Herbivora%20building-2.jpg

In 2000, the exhibits and building were remodeled into a larger exhibit entitled Vanishing Giants. You can no longer actually walk through the building unfortunately but the exhibits for the animals are much larger and more natural. It's a shame that I can't find a bigger picture.

elephant1.jpg

In surfing through the postcards on the site I found many attractions/buildings I remember but no longer exist. Though I'm still in college it made me feel sort of old.

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Sorry, that first part really didn't have much to do with the topic. I am really excited for the steps John Ball is taking to further the zoo in both attractiveness and prominence. I too had wanted the zoo to move to the golf course b/c the large amount of land and fresh start they could've had but I agree with GRDad's statement that the current site allows for interesting topography and will retain the zoo's original and historical presence. There is a lot more land there for them to work with than I originally had realized. I'd like to see them possibly incorporate that old building in the park that they use for educational purposes into the zoo itself. In addition, I hope that some time in the future the forces of NIMBY'ism can be defeated and the zoo can expand into the rest of the park. It would a)give the zoo a lot more space to work with and grow further b)could possibly make GR/Kent County think about creating a new, large urban park somewhere else to replace John Ball.

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I think it's easier to talk about what stays than what goes.

- The aquarium, just because I know it won't go anywhere. The penguin exhibit is a little underwhelming and it doesn't seem like the tidepool was ever used in the way it was intended. I think the exhibit should be re-worked to make the penguin area bigger. I also don't understand why they have snakes and tarantula's in the aquarium building. You'd think they would have more fish.

- The Chimpanzee exhibit, the wart hogs and the bongos are all pretty good.

- The barn / petting zoo is cool. I like the barn. The waterfall next to it is cool too but seems like needs to be near something tropical instead of a petting zoo.

On a scale of 1/10 I'd give our zoo about a 2.5 right now. But I know they are working on it, and hope that the re-aligning and future plans will make it a nice zoo. I'm not looking for the San Diego zoo, just something that is fun to be in and creates some sort of cohesive experience. And man, do we need a new entrance or what? I couldn't imagine being an out of towner and walking up to the chain link fence and makeshift ticket booths. We're here?! ;)

Joe

With the lions coming back....what else would be on your wishlist for animals the park could bring in? What current exhibits do you think need upgrading?
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