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by Mike Bederka
Even though a state highway runs right in front of the Charles Paddock Zoo, people would frequently drive by and not even see the entrance. Set back a bit and only distinguished by a small ticket booth, you could understand why.
“Years ago, the zoo was free. So not a lot of effort was put into the front entrance, because essentially it was just a way for people to get in,” explains Alan Baker, director of the zoo in Atascadero, California. “But now, we want people to be excited when they get here.”
The city-owned zoo also realized it was missing out on a serious revenue stream, he says. The 5.2-acre facility had zero concessions and just a small gift shop.
To remedy all situations, officials came up with a milliondollar renovation plan. The 56-year-old zoo constructed a brand-new entrance building that contains a ticket booth, offices, a large gift shop, food service area, and two public restrooms. A welcoming circular plaza also allows groups to queue easily.
“This building makes a statement,” says Baker of the year-long project that wrapped in March. “It’s going to take our customer service into the 21st century, for sure.”
The zoo’s inhabitants play a role, as well. The flamingo exhibit moved closer to the new entrance complex, allowing guests to see a sampling of animals from outside the gate.
“That really sets the tone that this is something special, this is something unique,” Baker says enthusiastically.
Worth the Expense
Other zoos around the globe have realized the varied benefits of enhancing their entrances. For example, the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri dedicated part of its massive $120 million capital campaign to transform the facility’s south entrance and build a pedestrian bridge. The reasons for such an undertaking, which opened this past summer, were threefold, according to Jeffrey Bonner, the zoo’s president and CEO.
Several years ago a drunk driver killed a young child crossing the busy road to visit the zoo. “We felt we needed to create a safer way to get guests from the parking lot to the zoo,” he says. “The federal government agreed with us and made an allocation to fund this renovation and improvement.”
The second reason was to make the entrance an “aesthetically pleasing experience,” Bonner notes. A donor commissioned a series of life-size bronze sculptures for along the walk. Creatures include a towering 19-foot-tall African elephant (a great wayfinding marker), Cape cobra, meerkat, bat-eared fox, a lioness with cubs, and more. “We wanted the storytelling to begin when you got out of your car,” Bonner says. “It’s not live animals, but they’re magnificent sculptures that get you thinking animals before you even cross the street.”
The last motivation was to improve upon the 40-year-old “sea of asphalt,” Bonner says: “It wasn’t a green parking lot— naturally or in the modern sense of the word.” The zoo reduced asphalt by 30 percent and increased greenery on the lot by 40 percent. In addition, it diverted rainwater to the trees instead of the storm sewer.
“We accomplished everything we wanted to do,” he says. “It’s safe. It’s beautiful. It’s green. It was expensive, but it was worth it.”
Building on the Experience
 Built in the 1980s, Germany’s Frankfurt Zoo’s old main entrance no longer met the demands of a facility that attracts nearly 1 million visitors a year, says Thomas Wilms, the zoo’s curator. The entrance shared space with a theater and a large event space—“a situation leading, at times, to problems.”
The project, which broke ground in March and is scheduled to open spring 2012, will provide more breathing room for guests waiting to enter as well as additional space for an information desk and a meeting place, he says. A large window will give customers a view of the black howler monkey enclosure, and six modern cash points will help shape guests’ first impressions of the zoo.
“Both the architecture of the building and the numerous cash desks are intended to allow a speedy passing of the cash point even in times of high visitor attendance,” says Wilms, noting this is just the first step in a series of new displays and activities aimed to modernize and restructure the zoo. “The combination of these efforts will surely strengthen our position as one of the main visitor attractions in the region and increase our attractiveness.”
Contract Contributing Editor Mike Bederka at mbederka@IAAPA.org.
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