Zoo?s Aquarium Adventure Trail and Pheasantry Set To Open

Keeping Up With Kids  |  07/30/2015

On Friday, July 31, bring the kids or be a kid again yourself at the opening of the Toledo Zoo’s new playground with cool zone, Aquarium Adventure Trail!

The new playground with cool zone is bigger than the Zoo’s previous children’s playground and has two sections, wet and dry. According to Jennifer Van Horn, facilities construction small projects manager/ master plan coordinator-designer, the design focused on interactive, unique and island-themed play features. The area has six animal sculptures: two humpback whales, two brown pelicans, a patriot crab and a Galapagos tortoise shell. There are also 32 spray water features in the wet section that run on a 15-minute sequenced loop. In the dry section, there is a slide hill, talk tubes, tire swing, crawl tube (reminiscent of the previous playground’s kid favorite, beaver dam) and hand-selected rocks for seating. The area was also designed to protect the Zoo's well-established oak trees which provide welcoming shade.

The new playground with spray water features will open daily at 10 a.m. and close one hour prior to the closing of the Zoo. It is located between Penguin Beach and Primate Forest, near the Zoo’s Broadway entrance. This addition is the third and final piece of the Zoo’s Aquatic complex, which also includes the newly renovated Aquarium and Penguin Beach. The entire facility is ADA accessible and is included in Zoo admission.

Playground and cool zone rules and regulations are posted at both entrances. While there is no life guard on duty, the area will be staffed by Zoo employees. For more information please visit toledozoo.org/2015.

The new equipment was made possible through funding awarded by the State of Ohio’s capital budget. Working on the almost year-long project were A.A. Boos & Sons, Buehrer Group Architecture & Engineering Inc., Graphite Design + Build, Rain Drop Projects LLC, Lewandowski Engineers, Bryson/Tucker Electric LLC, Dunbar Mechanical Inc, Nilsson’s: A Full Service Landscape Company, Underground Maintenance Services and Zoo staff.

Also opening this weekend is the Zoo’s new Pheasantry. This decagon-shaped exhibit, constructed with materials generously donated by Owens Corning, features 20 species of birds from around the globe, including the Spectacled Owl, Himalayan Monal and Red-legged Seriema. Each individual exhibit has been designed and landscaped to be reminiscent of each species’ native habitat. “We have a lot of brand new birds for this exhibit that we are really excited about,” says associate curator of birds, Chuck Cerbini.

The Zoo welcomes kids of all ages to enjoy the new Aquarium Adventure Trail and Pheasantry, both opening Friday, July 31.