Detroit Zoo – Royal Oak, Michigan

Isaac Kremer/ July 19, 2013/ Field Notes, museum, Physical, public art/ 0 comments

The Penguinarium was built by the City of Detroit and dedicated in 1968. Cornelius L.T. Gabler and Associates were the Architect. The Detroit Zoological Society redesigned and reconstructed the Penguinarium in 1985.

The Arctic Ring of Life provides an outdoor habitat area for the polar bear.

Inside elaborate tiles celebrate the polar bear and other wildlife.

The history of the Detroit Zoo presents a timeline of important events.

• 1883: First zoo in Detroit, result of bankrupt circus. Sited where Tiger Stadium once stood.
• 1911: First meeting of Detroit Zoological Society.
• 1916: Royal Oak site of Detroit Zoo purchased.
• 1924: Detroit votes to establish Detroit Zoological Commission to develop and operate the zoo.
• 1927: Bird house completed, designed by Detroit architect William H. Creaser.
• 1927: First captive wolverine birth in the world takes place at the Detroit Zoo.
• 1928, August 1: The Detroit Zoo opens to the public. Exhibits include elk yard, bear dens, bird house, lion dens, raccoon and wolverine exhibits and African veldt.
• 1928, December 3: Zoo closes for the winter, having entertained an estimated one and a half million visitors in four months.
• 1931: Miniature railroad opens, donated by The Detroit News.
• 1930-1932: New exhibits include elephant, rhino, African swamp, baboon rock, giraffe, bison, farmyard exhibits, prairie dog village, and the first reptile exhibit.
• 1933: Zoo begins truck gardens to help alleviate Depression food shortages.
• 1933-1934: Civil Works Administration and Federal Emergency Relief Administration provides funds and manpower to build hippo house, beaver habitat, and many others.
• 1935: First polar bear cub to survive at the Detroit Zoo begins a record of success in breading these threatened bears.
• 1935-1937: Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) builds animal hospital, administration building and major landscaping.
• 1939: Horace H. Rackham Memorial Fountain dedicated.
• 1940: Elephant Paulina “retires” after 500,000 riders.
• 1943: Zoo employees begin working six-day weeks to replace workers entering World War II.
• 1948: Ten polar bears donated to the zoo by Commissioner Walter O. Briggs.
• 1952: The first animal hospital completed (renovated garage).
• 1953: Zoo hatches an ostrich, the first to be successfully raised in any U.S. zoo.
• 1955: Holden Amphitheater and Great Ape House open.
• 1960: Holden Museum of Living Reptiles opens.
• 1962: Regular TV broadcasts of “Sonny Eliot at the Zoo” begin.
• 1968: Penguinarium opens, the first zoo building in the world designed entirely for penguins.
• 1969: The Detroit Zoo opens to the public year round.
• 1972: Voters approve admission charge.
• 1977: Bird house free-flight wing built and opens.
• 1977: Docent (volunteer teacher) program begins.
• 1978: The Detroit Zoo celebrates its 50th anniversary.
• 1982: Chimpanzee shows end as zoo philosophy on animal care changes.
• 1987: New zoo wall, parking deck and front entrance built.
• 1989: Chimps of Harambee habitat opens.
• 1989: The last 25 individual Partula nodosa snails on Earth arrive at the Detroit Zoo to begin a highly successful conservation program.
• 1993: First Meet Your Best Friend at the Zoo, the nation’s largest companion animal adoption event is held.
• 1993: Dinosauria! exhibit feature for the first time at the Detroit Zoo.
• 1994: Renovated giraffe house opens to the public after 32 years.
• 1995: Wildlife Interpretive Gallery opens, a renovation of the 1926 bird house.
• 1996: Gorillas return to the Detroit Zoo.
• 1997: Edward Mardigian Sr. River Otter Habitat opens.
• 1999: Prairie dog habitat debuts with viewing bubbles for children to get face to face with the animals.
• 2000: Aphibiville, home of the National Amphibian Conservation Center, opens.
• 2001: Wild Adventure Ride, the nation’s first simulator in a zoo, opens.
• 2001: Arctic Ring of Life, the world’s largest polar bear habitat, opens.
• 2001: Berman Academy for Humane Education established.
• 2002: Amphibiville receives the National Exhibit Award.
• 2002: Polar Bar Barle rescued from Suarez Brothers Circus in Puerto Rico.
• 2003: The Detroit Zoo celebrates its 75th Anniversary.
• 2004: Ruth Roby Glancy Animal Health Complex opens.
• 2005: Detroit Zoo becomes the first major U.S. zoo to close its elephant habitat on ethical grounds.
• 2005: Ford Education Center opens.
• 2006: Australian Outback Adventure opens, allowing guests to walk with kangaroos and wallabies.
• 2006: Detroit Zoological Society assumes daily operations and financial management of the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Zoo.
• 2007: Miniature railroad restored and named Tauber Family Railroad in honor of benefactors.
• 2007: Giraffe Encounter opens.
• 2007: Detroit Zoo’s breeding program for federally endangered Wyoming toad is No. 1 in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) list of the year’s Top 10 wildlife conservation success stories.
• 2008: Tri-county voters approve a millage to support the Detroit Zoo.
• 2009: Wild Adventure 3-D/4-D Theater opens.
• 2009: Center for Zoo Animal Welfare is created.
• 2010: Detroit Zoological Society helps rescue and care for 27,000 animals seized in the largest exotic animal confiscation in U.S. history.
• 2011: Science On a Sphere opens.
• 2011: Carousel opens.
• 2012: Cotton Family Wetlands opens.
• 2013: Jane and Frank Warchol Beaver Habitat opens.