St. Louis Zoo Kicks Off Planning for 13.5 Acre Expansion With Public Open House

This week marked the St. Louis Zoo’s public kick-off of its planned expansion. The zoo sits on nearly 100 acres within Forest Park in the City of St. Louis. The purchase of the 13.5 acre former Forest Park Hospital immediately across I-64 provides the zoo with a rare opportunity. The site is also a significant challenge, as it is not contiguous with the existing zoo and sits within the city’s residential Dogtown neighborhood. Recognizing the potential impact of the project on the neighborhood, park and city, the zoo has sought public input from the point expansion became a possibility.

The open house presented attendees with four stations aimed at imagining the potential of various areas of focus: Attract, Enhance, Connect, Support. While not mutually exclusion, each provided a framework to envision very divergent possible outcomes for the 13.5 acre project. Yet, by far the most engaging part of the open house were the zoo employees. They listened to ideas from all comers, and offered many of their own. They were dreaming as well. This was only step one, but this is how a public planning process should work.