The St. Louis Zoo held an open house Tuesday night to launch the planning process for its expansion into the recently purchased 13.5 acre Forest Park Hospital.
David McGuire is vice president for architecture and planning at the zoo and says it might take decades to complete the expansion project.
The initial planning phase is expected to last six to eight months, and McGuire says at the end of the day adding the new site will mean the zoo can extend its mission.
“We’re constantly going to give a great experience to people. This is just giving us more room to do all the things we’ve done very well.”
McGuire says some of the ideas being kicked around include a Panda exhibit and rehabbing a parking garage to help solve the zoo's parking issues.
“One of the important things we need to do is connect our new site with the main zoo,” McGuire says. “So, we’re looking at ways we can do that, whether that be a pedestrian bridge or some other way to make that connection which will be so important.”
More information on the planning process can be found here.
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