Photography courtesy Robert Lawton, Wikimedia Commons
It wasn’t quite the biggest recent news at the Saint Louis Zoo. That honor was reserved for the birth last Friday of an Asian elephant calf, whose name is currently up for a vote and will be announced next Monday. (Footage of the 251-pound youngster taking its first bath recently appeared on such media outlets as the Huffington Post.)
But the zoo’s open house last night at The Living World building did provide a glimpse of what may be in store for the 13.5-acre site of the shuttered Forest Park Hospital. The zoo purchased the plot of land, located south of Interstate 64, last October. For now, the public is still welcome to give feedback, but a clearer picture is beginning to emerge, with the framework plan being revealed at last night's event. After much discussion—with ideas ranging from an aquarium to a trolley—the zoo's planning committee and consultant team have begun to whittle down the possibilities.
Before any of the loftier proposed ideas can happen, priority No. 1 seems to be parking. Ed Uhlir, a consultant for the expansion project, told St. Louis Public Radio, "It just has to be the parking, because the zoo can't expand with the existing parking structure." If there were more parking across the highway, it could free up the existing, 9-acre lot for more animals, added project manager Bonnie Roy. It also would reduce traffic and carbon emissions in Forest Park. (That's not to mention that additional parking could generate more revenue for the zoo if that parking is paid, similar to the St. Louis Science Center's lot south of Forest Park.)
One of the next hurdles, once parking's in place? As with the Arch grounds, it will include bridging the gap over the highway, connecting the tourist attraction with the adjacent neighborhood. Rather than make visitors walk down Oakland Avenue to cross at Tamm or Hampton, there's the possibility of a pedestrian bridge—or a gondola (again, shades of the Arch project's initial plan).
Then, in the years to come, visitors may see additional buildings and zoo attractions, such as visitor-oriented retail and dining near Hampton, neighorhood-oriented retail on Berthold and Clayton, built-to-suit office space, a hotel cobranded with the zoo, and mixed-use apartments or townhouses in Dogtown.
"There’s still no price tag for the current plans," St. Louis Public Radio reports, "but it would most likely require another capital campaign down the road."
Next up on that road? The framework plan calls for restoring the parking garage on Berthold Avenue; demolishing the existing structures on the Forest Park Hospital site (set to begin within the next six months); and finalizing plans by the end of 2014.
Note: This blog post has been updated with additional details from the zoo's framework plan.
