It is still going to take a decade to complete, but Brookfield Zoo Chicago is getting a major face lift tied to its 2034 centenary.
Dubbed Next Century Plan, the redevelopment project seeks to revamp about half of the zoo's territory (113 of its 235 acres, according to the Chicago Tribune), debut new areas of interest within the destination and change up the way the animals are organized.
"Most of the area targeted for redevelopment lies west of Brookfield’s main promenade, creating “immersive ecoregions” that provide animals more room to roam, optimize outdoor space and allow non-carnivorous species to freely mingle, just as they would in the wild," reports the Tribune.
Speaking to the outlet, the zoo's President and CEO Michael Adkesson explained that the zoo is looking to mimic the way the animals live in nature, surrounded by other species. Instead of roaming inside areas alongside similar animals, the creatures will now be living in habitats.
Officials are also planning to debut a new amphitheater that will fit between 2,000 and 4,000 spectators at once and a pedestrian overpass that will allow folks to access the northern entrance of the zoo.
The $500 million Next Century Plan is split into phases, with the first one officially coming to completion this spring and bringing to life a new primate enclosure and education space called Tropical Forests.
Following phases will also bring along with them new "immersive ecoregions," including the Gateway to Africa section that's supposed to break ground in 2026.
In addition to rearranging the zoo's setup, these new areas will "free up animal movement significantly enough to bring elephants back to Brookfield Zoo for the first time in more than a decade," reports the Tribune.
The previous Art Deco pachyderm building pales in respect to what's to come: According to the proposal, the elephants will get to roam around an area that will be twenty times the size of the previous one. The former pachyderm section "will be repurposed into visitor space overlooking a mixed-species habitat with giraffes, elephants and other species," explains the Tribune.
Clearly, the massive project is going to completely change the way visitors experience the zoo while also bettering the environment that the animals call home. We can't think of a better way for the venue to celebrate 100 years in Chicagoland.