Media - In The News - Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau

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The Special Collections Department at Willard Library is home to the Tri-State Genealogical Society. The Society has a membership of approximately five hundred members and is one of the largest independent societies in the mid-west.

Aug 06, 2008

AMAZONIA OPEN!

Published by Evansville Courier & Press

On Monday, August 4th, Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden opened their new $13 million South American rainforest - Amazonia, Forest of Riches. This enclosed, climate controlled exhibit will be maintain a constant 78 degree temperature year round. There is even a daily rain shower to simulate the jungle experience.

And, Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden is experiencing one of its proudest moments in decades.

Not since the Kley Building opened in 1954 with space for rhinos and hippos has Mesker debuted a cutting edge facility, said Steve Bohleber, president of the Evansville Parks Board.

"This is probably the greatest moment in the zoo's history," he said.

The $16 million project, which includes the $13 million Amazonia exhibit, a new $2 million entrance on Mesker Park Drive and $1 million in site and building upgrades, sits on six acres of the 50-acre lot and took five years from conception to completion.

When zoo staff kicked around ideas for the ambitious project, a South American rain forest surfaced early as the clear choice.

It would fit well in the available space, and would require a greenhouse that could draw visitors year-round. Plus, the Amazon wildlife would provide an unparalleled choice of exotic animals and plants, said Dan McGinn, former zoo director who was part of the project's planning team.

"Big cats, cool monkeys, colorful birds, and the plant life is just fantastic," McGinn said. "All of that just tied in. It just became a natural."

Supporters had long talked of upgrading the zoo, which was in such bad shape in 1998 it lost its accreditation from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. A $30 million to $40 million facelift was proposed by the consulting group Kestrel Design in 1994 but money wouldn't be approved for nearly a decade.

When then-Mayor Russ Lloyd Jr. gave the green light in 2003, supporters knew they had to add something spectacular.

"If you're going to rebuild the zoo, build something dynamite, do it right," McGinn said. "Make it first class."

McGinn decided the zoo needed an indoor facility that could accommodate visitors on the coldest winter days.

That made a rain forest greenhouse a natural. So the choices were: African, Asian or South American rain forest.

By far the most interesting rain forest, according to Mesker officials, was the Amazon, which is estimated to be home to one quarter of all plant and animal species on Earth.

"The trees themselves are covered with animals, hundreds of feet off the ground," said Paul Bouseman, the project coordinator.

So the Amazon, from the treetops to the flooded forest, it became.

"We wanted it to be the South American experience in a nutshell," McGinn said. "We wanted things in there that were just unbelievable, like the waterfall and thousands of trees."

Mesker's animal collection sets it apart, said Erik Beck, general curator. The jaguar, the keel-billed toucan and the Baird's tapir all are species that aren't readily available to zoos that might want them.

Bouseman, the botanical curator, spent four years collecting and tending to the exhibit's plant species, 250 and counting.

"Evansville's going to have one of the nicest zoo exhibits in the world," McGinn said. "I don't know about you, but that makes me proud of my hometown."

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