May 16: Board Meeting, Cleveland Metroparks
Covered by Documenter Regina Samuels (live-tweets)
Cleveland’s own Planet of the Apes
The Cleveland Zoo – established in 1882 – is gearing up to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2032. During the Metroparks May 16 board meeting, representatives from the Cleveland Zoo updated the board on plans to renovate its RainForest attraction into a Primate Forest as part of that milestone.
The Primate Forest is set to be a new home for gorillas, orangutans and other animals and plants, according to the Metroparks. It also includes transforming the entrance for zoo guests.
The Primate Forest “kind of started as a gorilla project. But what it has evolved into is a project that allows us to create enhancements to our RainForest building,” said Christopher Kuhar, the zoo’s executive director.
The RainForest is more than 30 years old and “needs significant maintenance,” according to Kuhar. It also presents an opportunity to re-imagine the zoo’s “awkward” front entrance to one that is “more welcoming,” he said.
Two “major successes” of the zoo’s ongoing work with gorillas have been in heart health and diet, Kuhar said during the presentation.
The Primate Forest is expected to be complete ahead of the zoo’s anniversary.
Want to see what the Primate Forest could look like? Click play on the video below from the Cleveland Zoo announcing the attraction.
Next step for Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park
As residents continue to vacate Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park ahead of its closing this August, Metroparks is moving forward with the purchase of the 28.5 acres of land for $5.8 million.
The Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC), which owns the land, previously agreed to transfer ownership to Metroparks. The former mobile home park is expected to turn into green space as part of Euclid Beach Park.
The board approved Metroparks to acquire the property. It is contingent on receiving about $5 million from the State of Ohio and $800,000 from WRLC to put toward the purchase price.
Read the live-tweet thread from Documenter Regina Samuels:
