Volume 2, No. 14. July 26, 2002
The new century’s
zoo
Zoo Director Eric
Stephens is emphatic: contrary to local media depictions, Miami Metrozoo in
Florida is not planning to become a theme park. What it has laid out in its
new 20-year master plan approved last week by the Miami-Dade County Commission
is the strategy toward becoming what could surely be the prototype zoo of the
21st century
“We contracted with the Portico Group out of Seattle to help devise the
plan,” Stephens said. “We drew on their experiences as well as our
experiences from visits to other institutions and nature facilities. We set
about trying to make an exciting and interesting and interactive place for people
to come and still be a family destination where you can experience and fall
in love with exotic wildlife.”
Drawing on the hottest trends of today, the Miami Metrozoo of tomorrow will
be a highly themed 300-plus-acre (121-hectare) zoo with interactive experiences
for both the public and the animals, various rides, plenty of retail opportunities
and restaurants thematically fitting the various eco-exhibits. Far down the
plan’s timeline is an Eco-Lodge, which would be an overnight facility for
guests or for use as an executive suite. “Visitors can fall asleep to the
sounds of South America and the African Savanna,” the master plan’s
executive summary states.
A notable aspect of the plan is the means by which guests will be able to experience
the animals. People would be able to take a faux safari ride, similar to those
at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Busch Gardens and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Guests also will float along in native dugouts to see small primates, birds
and sloths in the proposed South America section. In Asia, guests will get the
chance to snorkel through a lake filled with tropical fish separated by an acrylic
wall from sharks. Also in Asia guests would be able to climb ropes into the
trees to view animals at canopy level.
The plan sees the zoo enhancing its modes of transportation, which currently
comprises a tram and a monorail. The latter would access more stations and become
the transport of choice on Miami-hot days. With a network of lagoons, guests
would also be able to take boats to the different themed villages. The tram,
currently running through the 30-foot-wide (nine-meter) walkways, would move
to a service-road route as the pedestrian paths are narrowed to 12 feet (four
meters) for a more intimate feel with shade canopies. “Feel is a big part
of it,” Stephens said of the end results. Each themed area would also have
themed restaurants and carts serving foods germane to that social-eco region.
“That’s an opportune area for zoos to grow in if they choose to,”
Stephens said.
Total cost for the master plan’s implementation in 2002 dollars is estimated
at $350 million. The zoo already has $14 million in hand for phase two, a zoo-wide
renovation of visitor amenities to be completed by 2005. Phase One is the Wings
of Asia aviary, replacing the structure destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992,
scheduled to open this winter.
One thing this next generation zoo would do that the current facility has not
is take better advantage of the zoo’s South Florida location, where it
can become more of a tourism draw. “We need to focus a lot more on tourists,”
Stephens said. “Most of our market now is the tri-county area of South
Florida. A lot of tourists come to South Florida to get on the cruise ships
and see the Everglades. We need to position ourselves to capture more of that
market.”
What may play an important role in doing that is a second element of the master
plan. For that, the zoo is researching use of surrounding property, much of
that federal land officials believe will become surplus. Among the options for
that land: keep it wild or use it to develop a waterpark, family entertainment
center or amusement park, “something that would be compatible with the
zoo,” Stephens said. That plan will be finalized and ready to present to
local officials in six to eight months, he said.
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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