Funworld March 2009

by Marion Hixon 

Bubbling mud pots and hot shooting steam vents are things one would normally stumble across when visiting Russia’s Far East coast, not Apple Valley, Minnesota. But they're fitting for the Minnesota Zoo to mimic, seeing that both areas run along the world’s 45th parallel and have hospitable habitats for northern climate animals like boars, sea otters, and, of particular note, grizzly bears (called Burii Medved in Russia).

The zoo’s “Russia’s Grizzly Coast” exhibit has been open since June 2008 and has drawn a record 40 percent increase in attendance with its encapsulating geysers and sea cave walkways.

Did we mention the exhibit cost $24 million? As such, it’s the latest in a trend among zoos and aquariums for installing multimillion-dollar exhibits (see sidebars) and marketing them like the latest and greatest roller coaster. These exhibits introduce new animals, diversify offerings for guests, and—most important for cold-weather climate facilities like Minnesota Zoo—often allow for a year-round, all-weather experience that keeps guests coming back even in frigid temperatures.

Lee Ehmke, director and CEO of the Minnesota Zoo foundation, calls the addition of “Russia’s Grizzly Coast” a “new level of immersion, excitement, and conservation relevance,” and he knows a thing or two about zoo design. For 12 years before coming to Minnesota, Ehmke served as exhibit designer and project manager at the Bronx Zoo and Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. There he set a benchmark in zoo excellence with the “Congo Gorilla Forest” exhibit.

The Minnesota Zoo has been preparing for “Russia’s Grizzly Coast” since establishing a master plan in 2001. Other parks, zoos, and aquariums incorporating multimillion-dollar installations can learn from “Russia’s Grizzly Coast” that the success of the final product is all in the planning.

Full Immersion
The goal of “Russia’s Grizzly Coast” was to bring guests nose to nose with animals like the predatory and endangered Amur leopards and playful sea otters, all of which are cared for and live comfortably and freely in replicas of their natural habitats. “In the full immersive experience, the visitors are taken into a replica of the Russian Far East, moving from a coastal rocky sea area into a volcano valley and then to a forested hillside area,” Ehmke says. In the exhibit, guests in the sheltered viewing areas can experience a grizzly catching trout in a stream or view leopards and boars from the safety of a log cabin.

Keith McClintock, principal at The Portico Group and lead designer on “Russia’s Grizzly Coast,” stresses the necessity of catering to animals as much as guests. “It is important to create an environment for the animals that allows them to behave naturally; it helps visitors understand why conservation is important,” he says.

Successfully communicating this message can lead to a real connection with the animals and an investment from guests, which often inspires them to return to the zoo.

“We get a fair amount of repeat visitors, and people really pay attention to which bear is which,” says Diana Weinhardt, a supervisor in the zoo’s Northern Trail area, which encompasses the exhibit. Their interest sparks common questions of how easily the bears recognize their names and if keepers can tell them apart—Weinhardt says yes, the colors of their faces and coats distinguish them. “Many visitors have personal blogs, and the bears here at the zoo are mentioned quite a bit after a visit,” she adds.

Guests are transported from Apple Valley, Minnesota, to Russia’s Valley of the Geysers thanks to the full-sensory features in the exhibit. Sounds of sea birds, steam vents, and sea cave waves echo throughout the exhibit; the ground rumbles underneath; graphic panels incorporate text, sketches, and three-dimensional elements; and guests can grip a bear skull in the lava-lined cave or discover whale bones scattered among storm debris on the coastal path.

McClintock notes it was of particular importance to cater to people with different styles of learning. “All interpretive elements, combined with the living plants and animals, create a unique learning environment for visitors,” he says. As learning styles are distinctive to different human personalities, McClintock stresses similar individual characteristics of bears, sea otters, wild boar, and Amur leopards. “They all have their specific needs, attitudes, challenges, and opportunities that must be anticipated and encouraged,” he says. “One of the reasons I love zoo design is that the animals are our clients as well. We need to anticipate their actions, provide for their needs, and provide for them to choose to do what they want naturally. Understanding their actions and motivations—[like tearing apart trees and logs, climbing, and digging]—is critical to a successful environment for wild animals.”

Building from the Ground Up
Ehmke says his years at the Bronx Zoo taught him a process for ensuring the best product, quality control, and guest experience; he used the lessons he learned there to tackle a project of similar scope in Minnesota.

It is from experiences like those that Ehmke knows exhibit planning should not be treaded on lightly. Regardless of the exhibit’s success, the zoo’s attendance, reputation, conservation message, and educational messages will all feel an impact. The job of the Minnesota Zoo and its stakeholders was to make sure that impact was a positive one.

“A major risk of this kind of project is whether the expected increases in visitation and associated revenue will be sufficient to cover or exceed the new operating expenses,” he says.

Because the Minnesota Zoo is a public institution and garnered a large amount of its funding from the public sector, capital costs weren’t incorporated into the exhibit’s business plan. Nevertheless, he acknowledges the financial implications of “Russia’s Grizzly Coast” and says it was critical the project result in a “demonstrable return on investment to the community.”

“Both the cost of staffing and operating a major new exhibit are not insignificant, so we built in project elements intended to increase revenue, above and beyond the increased gate,” Ehmke says. “New food service, retail, and event rental venues were all included along with increased attendance projections to help defray the increased operating costs.”

Along with the planning of these new amenities, the achievement of fluid communication between all parties is owed to zoo staff, Mortenson Construction—a company prepared for large-scale projects—and The Portico Group, experienced zoo developers and designers.

“We understood each other’s schedules, priorities, strengths, and weaknesses to control surprises throughout the process,” says Kendall Griffith, director of operations for Mortenson Construction, and project executive on “Russia’s Grizzly Coast.” “In my experience, the single most important factor for success is cooperation between the designer and the builder.”

Combining a $24 million exhibit in the heart of the zoo with a monorail system, construction during business hours, and the unpredictable Minnesota weather could have made for a considerable man-made disaster, but stakeholders shared a vision from the beginning.

Frequent consultations were made with animal management staff to maintain comfort for zoo animals. This included guaranteeing vibration during construction was kept to a minimum, as to not disrupt nearby marine mammals. And when the bear habitat called for vegetation prior to the bears’ arrival, developers faced an unusual problem.

“Establishing the bear meadow well in advance of bears was a scheduling challenge we have not faced before,” says Griffith, who credits this surprise with alerting planners to other potential complications. “That taught us to complete areas in advance of introducing the animals to make sure we could see what what otters might destroy, or where a bear might climb. And we left time to make changes if deemed necessary.”

Paramount to the process was open communication. “We had really good creative and cooperative team members who were willing to make changes in direction along the way, but who had also mapped out a strong road to completion,” Ehmke says.

This importance of pre-planning is crucial to the process when working on such a massive project, McClintock advises. Incorporating unique designs into complicated spaces was familiar to Portico, a team that has refitted existing buildings with new and innovative designs at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, and Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The company’s designers regularly conduct visioning workshops for clients to develop initial concepts and achieve consensus among all involved.

On the other end of design, Mortenson Construction had never tackled a zoo project prior to “Russia’s Grizzly Coast,” yet had garnered a reputation as a “builder of complicated things,” with projects like the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The Minnesota Zoo project was perfect for Mortenson, as the company was presented with varied obstacles from rock walls to atypical building shapes and sizes. But all of the preparation allowed for a two-year process with minimal bumps along the way.

Construction experts first collected design information for elements such as piping, foundations, and drainage systems, all of which would be buried underground. The map for the resulting project—a complicated overlay of components involving the initial construction work—was the focal point for the entire project and eliminated confusion in the long run and provided a canvas for all follow-on design to come.

All three project heads agree that big or small, facilities installing a core exhibit must understand the vital nature of logistical details and preplanning early in the process. For the Minnesota Zoo, the four years of planning, designing, and construction paid off, and guests were allowed in on the excitement along the way.

The long preparation time allowed the marketing team to build public enthusiasm through the zoo’s web site using 3-D animation, blog posts, and videos of construction time lapse and guided tours. These faithful efforts, led by Bill von Bank, director of sales and marketing for the zoo, constantly kept the project in the public eye.

Nontraditional advertising took the form of a grizzly bear paws display leading to the Minneapolis Macy’s department store and specially labeled local wine featuring the zoo’s grizzly bears and sea otters. News of the exhibit even reached Times Square in New York City, undoubtedly helped along by zoo media staff posting information as quickly as it was available.

“‘Russia’s Grizzly Coast’ is Minnesota Zoo’s largest exhibit initiative since the zoo’s opening in 1978, and we wanted to convey how big and cool this exhibit will be to the consumer,” von Bank says.

“We made sure people got the sense that something great was coming,” Ehmke says, adding the zoo’s desired outcomes for the project were threefold, including increases in attendance and earned revenue; conservation impact; and educational impact and institutional visibility—a final goal that led to increased philanthropic support for the zoo.

Those goals were reached and that “something big” everyone knew was coming garnered grizzly-sized results in the months to follow.

“The 43 percent peak season growth in attendance, overwhelmingly positive media and guest responses to the exhibit, and markedly increased private fundraising results following the exhibit’s opening all point to the success of the effort,” Ehmke says.

“Russia’s Grizzly Coast” now sits at the center of the zoo, centralizing guest activity and serving as the heart of the experience.
www.mnzoo.org