Long lines at Hogle Zoo, especially for members, should be a thing of the past next spring when the $5.8 million visitor entry plaza at Hogle Zoo is complete.
Ticket windows will be expanding from six to eight, and zoo members will have their own streamlined entrance.
"Elephant Encounters," a separate $4.6 million expansion/renovation of the elephant area, is still in the design stages. Construction could begin soon, with completion by the summer of 2002. It will triple the elephant exhibit space.
Both multimillion-dollar projects are funded primarily by Salt Lake County's Zoo, Arts & Parks tax.
According to Craig Dinsmore, the zoo's executive director, the entryway work is the first major project at the zoo in a decade and is the single largest project ever. The existing entryway is 15 years old, and the elephant facilities are even older at 18 years.
"The entryway project is the kickoff for a master plan to completely reshape Hogle Zoo," Dinsmore said. More zoo employees will eventually be hired to staff the expanded facilities.
The foundations for five new buildings are currently being completed in a 1.5-acre area for the new entryway.
"We don't have a nice front door," said Cyndy Andrews, director of marketing and development for Hogle Zoo, explaining that there's no good transition place at the front of the zoo.
The Elephant Encounters will be the flagship of revised animal exhibits for the zoo, and other new animal enclosures will follow in future years, moving exhibits to the center of the zoo and services to the outside.
Meanwhile, the zoo is open for business as usual with little disruption for visitors. However, the old wooden fort with its tree slide is gone for good. Other child areas, the playground and Discovery Center, have been relocated, and the zoo train still operates seasonally in good weather, though it utilizes a temporary station.
Dinsmore said the tree slide was too heavy, a mass of concrete, and just couldn't be saved. However, the zoo master plan includes a pioneer trails area that will someday recapture the flavor of the West's fort age with animals and displays.
The entry plaza will be the zoo's new hub, with ticketing areas, rest rooms, a gift shop, visitor and member services, food areas, a new train station and an events pavilion.
This plaza will also give dramatic views into planned future exhibits, and pathways will lead visitors to sections of the zoo.
Dinsmore stressed the zoo's two icons, the concrete cougars, will be salvaged and relocated to a special rock and water area.
A new gift shop will be 4,250 square feet in size and will feature a 5,000-square-foot storage area with an adjacent 900-square-foot stroller rental area.
The events pavilion will be a 6,000-square-foot area with lawn space. The plaza will serve as a gathering space for visitors and provide views of future exhibits.
Guest services will be located in a 2,700-square-foot area with security, first aid and offices. The new train station will have a ticket area and food retail outlets.
An interactive working yard, the first of its kind in the country, will allow zoo staff to interact with the pachyderms and let the public watch the training process.
There will also be a bronze sculpture for kids to climb and play on, an elephant watering hole, waterfall and various video and audio presentations about the animals.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com