ST. LOUIS – The Saint Louis Zoo is working on its latest addition in Forest Park – Destination Discovery. It’s a reimagined space that was once home to the Children’s Zoo.
“It’s been our children’s zoo since the 60s,” Saint Louis Zoo Director Michael Macek said. “It’s a place for many people to come and make memories. We closed it in the pandemic, knowing we were going to reinvent it. That’s what we just started work on Destination Discovery.”
The one-of-a-kind, three-acre site will be for families and children to learn up close. And the animals that will call this home in the not-too-distant future?
“North American river otters,” Macek said. “Chilean flamingos, black-tailed prairie dogs, Patagonian Marra, Tasmanian devils, and many other ambassador animals that will come out with animal surprises throughout the day.”
The project takes parts of this zoo’s past, during former zoo director Marlon Perkin’s time, like a building from the 1960s, out and reuses part of another building from Charlie Hoessel’s tenure from the 1990s to create something unique for families.
The plan calls for saving trees, installing native plants, and taking out invasive species along the way. All to create a new space for a zoo favorite.
“We know that otters love the water and love to swim,” David McGuire, the zoo’s vice president of architecture and planning, said. “Turns out they need the land spaces as well. So, we’ve quadrupled the land spaces available to those otters while giving them more water to work with. The visitor is going to be completely immersed into their habitat. The exhibit cuts through the pool and you’ll see views of the otters swimming on either side of the path through large funnels that otters will learn to transfer from one side, to the other.”
Zoo officials say work to complete the Henry A. Jubel Foundation Destination Discovery will take about 18 months. The space will open in 2026, a year before the zoo’s new North County Wildcare Park.
