Here is some background on the process from the Planning Team: The Saint Louis Zoo : An Opportunity for Expansion For almost 100 years the Saint Louis Zoo has served the community and the surrounding region as one of the only three remaining free zoos in the country. Its mission: to conserve animals and their habitats through animal management, research, recreation, and educational programs that encourages the support and enrich the experience of the public. To support this mission, the Saint Louis Zoo developed a strategic plan in 2007 (which they revised in 2011), recommending several goals that will bring the Zoo into the 21st century. In an effort to advance these goals, the Saint Louis Zoo Association purchased the 13.5 acre Forest Park Hospital site located south of the existing Zoo property in the City of St. Louis. Both the Saint Louis Zoo and its recently purchased property are bifurcated by Interstate 64, making future access to the expansion site challenging. For many years the Zoo has been land-locked, making the acquisition of this land crucial to the Zoo's future expansion. With an annual attendance of 3.5 million, the Saint Louis Zoo attracts more visitors than the Saint Louis Cardinals, the Gateway Arch and City Museum. The expansion of the Saint Louis Zoo offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not only to the Zoo, but also for the surrounding communities, the City of St. Louis and the metropolitan region. Given the historic significance of this project and the future economic impact it will have, the Zoo's leadership, through the guidance of its consulting team, have decided to create a 20 to 30 year vision for future growth - a framework plan - providing the Zoo with a set of guidelines for development and tools for making smarter, more insightful short-term decisions. SWT Design led a team of eight consultants, bringing expertise in the fields of urban design, landscape architecture, zoo planners, economics, market analysis, architecture, engineering, traffic planners, and communications. Through inclusive public engagement and design workshops, the design team developed a framework plan that will serve as a living document to inform the production of the Zoo's revised strategic plan, and allow the concurrent development of master plans for elements identified during the planning process. Why a Framework Plan? Framework plans are a unique device used by governments and organizations as a first step in creating a vision for the future. It is intended to be a dynamic living document; a starting point for a long-term process of change over the next few decades. It is a particularly important process for zoological parks. Patrons are diverse and funding is unpredictable. Therefore, the framework plan restates the organization's mission and defines a methodology of how this mission can be achieved. In addition to creating a 20 to 30 year vision and supporting the Zoo's mission, goals of the Saint Louis Zoo Expansion Framework Plan include creating a cohesive campus experience, engaging the community, improving animal habitat, expanding opportunities for research and conservation, improving the visitor experience, enhancing adjacent neighborhoods and considering revenue-generating concepts, among several others. Thoughts from our Client: David McGuire | Vice President, Architecture and Planning, The Saint Louis Zoo David McGuire, Vice President of Architecture and Planning with the Saint Louis Zoo, understands how unique this opportunity is for the Zoo. "...With the acquisition of an additional 13.5 acres, it was important to create a flexible, long range plan that will set the stage for future development," he says. "Unlike a facilities master plan, the framework plan identifies categories of development options, and clarifies the basic physical boundaries for these developments." A framework plan, he says, provides the Zoo a clear understanding how the development of this land will play out over several decades. "A framework plan allows for accommodating changing needs over time, while answering questions about connectivity, density of development and integration with the neighborhood."
From the look of things, it appears that the expansion won't result in any additional animal exhibits. Am I correct in this assumption?
The first diagram indicates that existing parking lots on the south side of the zoo would be converted to savanna exhibits, presumable replaced by new parking areas on the expansion site
When I think of adding more life to a neighborhood, I immediately think "car dealership." Aside from that it is nice that the new expansion makes this free zoo more accessible for pedestrians in that neighborhood. Its nice that the zoo is thinking about building within the existing community and not throwing up a fence to wall off the world around.
