Museum of Living Art - Facility

Zoo Building for the Future   — (Download Article)

• $18 million capital campaign
  
• 30,000 square feet:18,000 square feet of exhibit space, new food court and restrooms
  

• About 125 exhibits, housing about 900 reptiles, amphibians and more
  
• Interior consists of three main halls, themed into the categories "exploration," "discovery" and "adaptation"
  
• Exterior also includes several exhibits that will house most of the facility's non-reptile species, including Scarlet Ibises, sloths and a golden lion tamarin
  
• Larger animal exhibits and breeding areas throughout the facility will allow keepers to accurately replicate natural habitats, benefiting the entire collection
  
• The layout will allow safe transfer of venomous animals using behind-the-scenes vicinities, which the Zoo's current Herpetarium does not have
  

• MOLA will expand the Zoo's current formal educational programming options by 41 percent
  
• Will offer students direct experience with nature to revitalize a passion for the sciences — natural, life, physical and earth
  
• An interpretive center will allow teachers, students and all visitors to ask keepers questions, see hatchlings and babies up-close, and touch living animals, providing an educational resource for the community, state and nation
  

The world's current Global Amphibian Crisis threatens the existence of 30% of all amphibians!

• Exhibits will highlight man's successes in wildlife conservation as a catalyst to rally around current wildlife challenges
  
• Four state-of-the-art quarantine rooms that comfortably accommodate multiple animals will prohibit inter-species pathogen transfers among animals for release into the wild
  
• Three hibernaculums will allow hibernation that is essential for breeding
  
• Heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems will allow keepers to better control moisture, humidity and temperatures — all key to breeding rare reptiles and amphibians
  
• Educational graphics will portray the specific threats surrounding reptiles and amphibians and their natural habitats
  

• Finalize construction plans by August 2007
  
• Secure remaining capital funds by spring 2008 — current pledges $14 million
  
• Break ground in late September 2007
  
• Open to the public by spring 2009, coinciding with the Zoo's centennial year