Heart of the Zoo – Phase One will increase the Zoo’s education program capacity and quality, provide guests with exciting animal encounters, and create a gracious and comfortable entry experience. “This first phase sets the stage for the entire Heart of the Zoo project and addresses each of our three core mission principles: education, conservation and recreation,” says Minnesota Zoo Director/CEO Lee Ehmke. “In addition to an extraordinary new animal exhibit, a new education facility and theater, we also are creating a new interim main public entrance to the Zoo.”

A new website has been developed to track the progress and learn more about the project: mnzoo.org/heartofthezoo.

OVERVIEW: Heart of the Zoo – Phase One
Heart of the Zoo is an ambitious, multi-phase project that will set the tone for the entire Zoo visit with welcoming and innovative landscape and architecture, exciting animal environments and cuttingedge, sustainable design and operation. As an adaptive re-use and expansion of the Zoo’s existing Main Building and associated outdoor areas, the project is an efficient renovation of a 32-year-old facility that no longer meets the needs of the Zoo’s rapidly-growing audience. The Heart of the Zoo is “the” project that will elevate the Zoo to world-leading status and is a great example of a public/private partnership. Heart of the Zoo complements other recently-completed improvements at the Zoo, including the Medtronic Minnesota Trail, Central Plaza, Woodland Adventure, and Russia’s Grizzly Coast – named the best new exhibit in 2009 by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

NEW! Penguins of the African Coast (opening summer 2011, featuring black-footed penguins)
For the first time at the Minnesota Zoo, guests will be able to experience these amazing aquatic birds eye-to-eye, above and below water, in a replica of their spectacular, wild habitat on South Africa’s famed Boulder’s Beach. Microphones allow guests to hear the penguins’ loud braying calls, the origin of their nickname, “jackass” penguins.

NEW! Cargill Environmental Education Center (opening summer 2011)
One of the more interesting views into the penguin exhibit will be from a classroom which is part of the new Cargill Environmental Education Center. Designed for the thousands of students and teachers who visit the Zoo each year, the Center will significantly increases program capacity – particularly important during the Zoo’s busy summer camp season. This remodeled and expanded area will centralize the Zoo’s education department functions and house the headquarters of the Zoo’s 1,000+ volunteers who are critical to advancing its education mission.

NEW! Target® Learning Center (opening spring 2011)
The new multi-use facility will occupy the footprint of the Zoo’s long-vacant beluga whale pool. Its primary function will be an educational facility for a variety of programs, including the Zoo’s enormously popular indoor KAYTEE World of Birds free-flight show. The Target® Learning Center will boast improved guest comfort, sight lines and audio-visual capabilities along with expanded seating capacity and back of house facilities.

South Entry Upgrade (opening spring 2011)
The main entry to the Zoo will receive an upgrade, which will include native plantings, a heated sidewalk, updated directional signage, and sculptural elements – linking the Zoo’s conservation message and showcasing a fun, unique experience up front for guests.

The Minnesota Zoo is located in Apple Valley, just minutes south of Mall of America. For more information, call 952.431.9500 or visit mnzoo.org. The Minnesota Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and an institutional member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).