Houston Zoo At 6200 Hermann Park Dr.

[txtiger]

^'Jack's Cafe' will break ground once 'Galapagos Islands' opens (so the sea lions can move).

'Birds of the World' seems like it will be comprised of three aviaries, and will also follow the opening of 'Galapagos Islands.'  Per the bit of site plan visible above, BOTW will be sandwiched between 'Galapagos' and 'South America's Pantanal.'  

[X.R.]

This development cycle for the zoo is fairly incredible. One capital project near completion? Onto the next one.

Those more familiar with the zoo, have they always been so aggressive with their development? We've only been going to the zoo consistently for 4-5 years now. Cypress cafe and the development on the west side of the zoo was big in 2017-2019, so I guess yeah, once they finished that they took a little break and then headfirst into this?

[txtiger]

I bumped my own photos by a follow-up post...  

See the bottom of page 6 for a bunch of current renderings of the Zoo's new, consolidated Office building, the upcoming Jack's Cafe and Event space, and the forthcoming 'Birds of the World' exhibit (post-'Galapagos' exhibit).

The Zoo was not all that spectacular until the opening of the African Forest exhibit, around 2015.  That particular development of property was the most initially monumental, and really kicked things off.  Improvements to the Elephant yards, the Bug House came after that, and now these additional big, themed experiences.  Just for fun, see here the original promo for that, from years ago:  

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by txtiger

[hindesky]

Another surprise I found today is the tower crane going up for the parking garage and offices. I talked with an OSC Construction supervisor who said it will be 4 stories with offices on the first and fourth floor with amenities on the top  floor. I had never heard of this company but he said they are from Houston and recently did projects in Sugar Land, Northwest 610 loop office project and garage, TMC and the Woodlands. They do interiors, smaller buildings and renovations. This is their biggest project going on right now. Completion date is Oct. '23.

https://www.odonnellsnider.com

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[BeerNut]

First look: Houston Zoo sets opening date for 'Galápagos Islands,' introduces animals' new habitats

Quote

The wait for "Galápagos Islands," the crown jewel of Houston Zoo's centennial capital campaign, is nearly over. The state-of-the-art, $70 million structure opens to the public on April 7, Houston Zoo announced.

 

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[txtiger]

Scroll to 38:15 for an audio interview w/ Lee Ehmke re: the new Galapagos Islands exhibit:

Experiencing the Galapagos Islands with Tui de Roy and Lee Ehmke - Wild World with Scott Solomon (captivate.fm)

 

[txtiger]

Sounds like the Zoo is jumping straight into construction of the "Birds of the World" exhibit, which will sit between "Galapagos" and "South America's Pantanal" :  How the Houston Zoo moved a flock of flamingos to a new home (chron.com)

Once "Galapagos" is open next month, Jack's Cafe and event space should also begin construction in the location of the sea lion's longtime, current pool.

 

Here again is what's On the Boards:  ON THE BOARDS — SH|R Studios (shrstudios.com)

[Red Fox]

11 hours ago, txtiger said:

Sounds like the Zoo is jumping straight into construction of the "Birds of the World" exhibit, which will sit between "Galapagos" and "South America's Pantanal" :  How the Houston Zoo moved a flock of flamingos to a new home (chron.com)

Once "Galapagos" is open next month, Jack's Cafe and event space should also begin construction in the location of the sea lion's longtime, current pool.

 

Here again is what's On the Boards:  ON THE BOARDS — SH|R Studios (shrstudios.com)

I like that the Flamingos are going to be in a fully enclosed exhibit.  The concept art for the Jacks Cafe looks amazing! 

[X.R.]

Kind of crazy to think that Houston parks and zoos got enough philanthropic money to have successive, large projects at the Zoo, the land bridge at Memorial, the Commons at Hermann, and the Wyatt development downtown.

It feels like the Zoo is finally starting to reach the type of potential a zoo with its volume of visitors would naturally have. And what's super nice is that they are creating different visitor experiences at different parts of the zoo in terms of places like the beer garden and jacks cafe and such. Way back in the day, the family could do the whole zoo in a few hours, but now there's enough to-do and eat and drink and enjoy that you can't really do that anymore. I take that as a sign of big improvement.

[Red Fox]

On 12/2/2022 at 3:28 PM, X.R. said:

This development cycle for the zoo is fairly incredible. One capital project near completion? Onto the next one.

Those more familiar with the zoo, have they always been so aggressive with their development? We've only been going to the zoo consistently for 4-5 years now. Cypress cafe and the development on the west side of the zoo was big in 2017-2019, so I guess yeah, once they finished that they took a little break and then headfirst into this?

Has to do with the fact that the zoo got a new CEO back in 2015

Edited March 25, 2023 by Red Fox

[ChannelTwoNews]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/04/07/houston-zoo-opens-gal-pagos-islands-exhibit.html

" The Houston Zoo opened its $70 million Galápagos Islands exhibit April 7, bringing the zoo's centennial anniversary to a close.

The exhibit is the largest component and marks the culmination of the zoo's $150 million "Keeping Our World Wild" centennial capital campaign, which launched in 2018. Completed in a six-year, multiphase plan across the 55-acre campus, the other projects included the Hamill Foundation Black Bear Exhibit (2018), Cypress Circle Café (2018), a renovated orangutan exhibit (2019), and award-winning exhibits Kathrine G. McGovern Texas Wetlands (2019) and South America's Pantanal (2020). For perspective, around $150 million in improvement efforts took place at the zoo between 2002 and 2018, Houston Zoo President and CEO Lee Ehmke previously told the Houston Business Journal."

[BEES?!]

Have any of y’all gotten the chance to go to the new exhibit yet? I’m thinking of going in the middle of the week when it’s less crowded

[sapo2367]

I went this weekend -- definitely very busy. It was good overall, the sea lion and coral reef exhibits in particular were very well done. I was hoping for a little more info about the Galapagos islands and the animals, but overall it was good. FYI most of the animals are not from the Galapagos (since those are very endangered and restricted) but are instead 'sibling' species. Like California sea lions and Humboldt penguins etc

[Red Fox]

5 hours ago, BEES?! said:

Have any of y’all gotten the chance to go to the new exhibit yet? I’m thinking of going in the middle of the week when it’s less crowded

I went on April 8th.  Busy of course and they only let a certain amount of people in the exhibit at a time.  The sea lions like to hangout where the walk thru tunnel is ( I am pretty sure I stood in it for a good 15 minutes or more) and there is a wave machine in their exhibit as well.  Just like their other completed exhibits (Pantanal and Texas Wetlands) there are plenty of animal statues.      

[X.R.]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:50 AM, txtiger said:

^'Jack's Cafe' will break ground once 'Galapagos Islands' opens (so the sea lions can move).

'Birds of the World' seems like it will be comprised of three aviaries, and will also follow the opening of 'Galapagos Islands.'  Per the bit of site plan visible above, BOTW will be sandwiched between 'Galapagos' and 'South America's Pantanal.'  

Bird of the World wasn't on the website until I checked two-three weeks ago: https://shrstudios.com/on-the-boards

And its not in planning status like some of the others on the website, so assumedly this thing is ready to go soon.

The parking garage can't come soon enough, it seems like the Zoo and Hermann park are somehow bringing even more people in, as the lines to get into the lot are larger than I remember pre-covid, and the parking on the street lining the park is packed by noon on Saturday.

Edited April 17, 2023 by X.R.

[Amlaham]

34 minutes ago, X.R. said:

Bird of the World wasn't on the website until I checked two-three weeks ago: https://shrstudios.com/on-the-boards

And its not in planning status like some of the others on the website, so assumedly this thing is ready to go soon.

The parking garage can't come soon enough, it seems like the Zoo and Hermann park are somehow bringing even more people in, as the lines to get into the lot are larger than I remember pre-covid, and the parking on the street lining the park is packed by noon on Saturday.

Do we have a renderings of the garage? Really hope it looks decent since its in the middle of a park.

[bookey23]

I could be wrong, but I think the parking garage is just for Houston Zoo staff. It seems like that office/garage building will be the HQ for the Zoo operations.

[Red Fox]

4 hours ago, X.R. said:

Bird of the World wasn't on the website until I checked two-three weeks ago: https://shrstudios.com/on-the-boards

And its not in planning status like some of the others on the website, so assumedly this thing is ready to go soon.

The parking garage can't come soon enough, it seems like the Zoo and Hermann park are somehow bringing even more people in, as the lines to get into the lot are larger than I remember pre-covid, and the parking on the street lining the park is packed by noon on Saturday.

According to the zoo website, BOTW is opening next year. All I know is that there is going to be three aviaries. A walk thru flamingo aviary with other birds, Africa aviary (like shown earlier in this thread) and not sure what the third aviary is going to be…Asia perhaps? 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Red Fox

[txtiger]

(See the series of photos at the bottom of page 6, here, for a rendering of the parking garage, which was shown during an AIA Continuing Education event.)

The garage consolidates employee offices and employee parking, and I believe also upgrades facilities for staff who will be on-site to weather future storms. 

Hopefully the garage allows the zoo to replace the smattering of trailers and building structures currently being occupied by employees, and use that space for a future exhibit.  This, unfortunately, wasn't verified as part of the presentation and tour at that time.

 

[bookey23]

2 hours ago, txtiger said:

Hopefully the garage allows the zoo to replace the smattering of trailers and building structures currently being occupied by employees, and use that space for a future exhibit.  This, unfortunately, wasn't verified as part of the presentation and tour at that time.

This would make a lot of sense. If you look at the zoo on Google Maps, a surprisingly large area is non-customer facing. It makes a lot of sense for them to consolidate and make more space for exhibits, since they can not expand outward into Hermann Park or the Medical Center

[Houston19514]

10 minutes ago, bookey23 said:

This would make a lot of sense. If you look at the zoo on Google Maps, a surprisingly large area is non-customer facing. It makes a lot of sense for them to consolidate and make more space for exhibits, since they can not expand outward into Hermann Park or the Medical Center

Per their strategic plan, it doesn't look like they have any intention to expand exhibit space into the back-of-house footprint.  I suspect they use every bit of that space pretty intensively as it is.

• Veterinary clinic
• food storage
• commissary
• administrative offices
• as mentioned above, the new parking garage/office building will have space for staff to stay in during emergencies to take care of the animals
• etc, etc.

https://s28164.pcdn.co/files/Strat_Plan_Book_MF_3.20.20_Web.pdf

[bookey23]

Thanks for sharing that! I've never seen their strategic plan before and was totally guessing on the office/garage

[hindesky]

Demo permit.

[txtiger]

8 hours ago, hindesky said:

Demo permit.

 

(Pin drop ended up on the Carousel building.  Actual site for 'Birds of the World' is back up between 'South America's Pantanal's' aviaries and the backside of 'Galapagos Islands.'  The online Zoo map has been updated to reflect forthcoming 'Birds of the World' and even 'Jack's Cafe' -  GateMap2023.4_Englishweb (pcdn.co)  )

Edited April 25, 2023 by txtiger

[Red Fox]

After watching the Facebook live about the Chilean Flamingo, the future Birds of the World exhibit is going to have 3 walk-thru aviaries representing South America, North America, and Africa.  

 

[hindesky]