Photo courtesy of the St. Louis Zoo
This week, the Saint Louis Zoo unveiled a new entrance that welcomes you with a 19-foot tall African elephant, meerkat, gazelle, and lioness with her cubs. Not real ones, but lifelike sculptures set in an environment of trees and fountains you'll see after crossing a new, much-needed pedestrian bridge over Wells Drive from the south parking lot to the zoo entrance. The Zoo refers to the new entrance as an "arrival experience," specifically, the "Wells Fargo South Arrival Experience"—much more than a welcome sign. We recently talked to Dr. Jeffrey Bonner, president and CEO of the Saint Louis Zoo, about the new "experience" and other projects in the works.
Can you describe the "arrival experience"?
JB: This project had three components. The first and most important was safety. We really needed a bridge for people to get safely from the south parking lot to the Zoo entrance. The next was aesthetics. The new arrival experience is beautiful and begins to tell the story of what we're all about—the elegance and beauty of plants and animals. Thirdly, we wanted a greener parking lot. It's physically greener and environmentally greener with water retention systems to nourish surrounding trees.
What makes it an "experience"?
JB: If you watch people come in, they really do stop and interact. The children are attracted to the meerkat statues and the adults like the elephants—much like inside the Zoo. It's an educational, social, aesthetic, and even reverential experience to be walking through something so beautiful.
How long has this project been in the works?
JB: [Laughs]. It goes back about five years. It's taken a long time to finish it. We have support from the federal government, but working with them can take awhile. The weather didn't help us either when we started construction.
What other projects are in progress?
JB: Well, the sea lion exhibit is really the heart of the Zoo. It's difficult for visitors to get around the construction now, but when it opens it will be a fabulous exhibit with underwater viewing in an underwater tunnel. Construction will go from now through next year, and we'll probably be done in early 2012 but we won't let people in until the animals are acclimated and the new show is put together. People will most likely get to see it in late spring/early summer 2012. We're also doubling the size of our elephant space, which is almost complete...
For more information about the Saint Louis Zoo, visit stlzoo.org.
