Great Plains Zoo’s new master plan includes aquarium, enhanced exhibits

Nearly every area of the Great Plains Zoo should see improvements in the next decade, including the addition of an aquarium and rainforest, according to a master plan released today.

“This plan is a vision of transformational growth and development of the campus,” CEO Becky Dewitz said. “It’s really bringing our zoo forward, so we can match the vibrancy of the rest of Sioux Falls.”

The zoo has spent about a year working with CLR Design and Canopy Strategic Partners, firms that specialize in working with zoos, aquariums and other attractions.

The broader goal is to increase annual attendance from about 250,000 today to more than 400,000, in addition to provide new revenue opportunities such as additional education and events.

“It’s a good 10- to 15-year plan,” Dewitz said. “This is exciting. Land, sea and sky in one location.”

Bringing the aquarium onto the zoo’s campus helps complete a merger between the zoo and the Butterfly House & Aquarium, which had planned for an expansion at Sertoma Park that was limited in scope because of flood control issues.

The new concept is about 25,000 square feet, including an upper mezzanine, that broadens what the aquarium could offer, including a full shark tank, rays, corals and a jellyfish gallery, plus an adjacent rainforest with butterflies, tropical plants and wildlife.

“It’s important to be able to get the team on all one campus from an efficiency standpoint and to drive revenue,” said Don Kearney, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “We continue to be excited about the merger going forward, knowing it’s going to be a much more sustainable operation.”

Adding the new aquarium and rainforest, which still are in the early stages of design, brings additional opportunity for year-round visitors, Kearney and Dewitz said.

“The layout is very, very high level, and I know it’s going to change,” Dewitz said, adding that the hope also is to add an indoor area for the zoo’s penguins, which are limited in their ability to be outdoors because of avian disease.

There’s also a plan for a new indoor cafe adjacent to the aquarium and a separate new education center near the front of the zoo, which would allow more room for growing programs for all ages.

“We continue to sell out our zoo camp program and every year are trying to add as many spots as possible,” Dewitz said. “Our programs start as young as 2 and 3, all the way up to OLLI where we’re bringing in retirees, so we look at education for all … and we know we aren’t meeting the needs of our community.”

The education center also could host events and serve as a central location for animal ambassadors. The plan would be to fund it within the aquarium campaign and allow uses in the existing main zoo building to shift to the new education center, and then opening the aquarium by 2027 to align with the zoo’s next cycle of accreditation.

Part of that space currently is occupied by the Delbridge Museum collection, which is under review by a city-organized group to determine its future. The master plan shows a 4,000-square-foot building elsewhere on the property that could hold the specimens determined to be in good condition or able to be restored.

“That’s contingent on our findings,” Dewitz said. “We will have multiple options to have the best recommendation to the mayor.”

There’s no funding identified in the plan for restoring the mounts or constructing the building.

The aquarium is scheduled for a Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce fundraising campaign this fall and has a lead gift to support it, Dewitz said. The city also likely will be a contributor, Kearney said.

“It’s important to come alongside the zoo and their donors to show commitment to making this a reality,” he said.

The broader plan calls for additional parking that also would support major events at Sherman Park, plus a potential relocation of a city maintenance operation to the northern edge of the complex.

In the short term, the zoo’s long-planned lion exhibit is on track to open in early July. Two lions have been secured, and the zoo is working on a few more, Dewitz said.

A new splash pad is scheduled to open around Memorial Day.

“We are very excited for 2024,” Dewitz said, adding that the projection is the new exhibits will drive attendance growth, which already is happening.

“February was nearly double last year, so that was awesome.”

Next steps

The aquarium, rainforest and education center represent only about one-third of the costs of the potential projects identified in the new master plan, which could total up to $150 million depending on their timing and scope.

Overall goals of the plan are:

• Champion well-being, including animals.
• Embrace Sioux Falls history.
• Maintain accreditation.
• Enhance the guest experience.
• Integrate with the park.
• Diversify and increase revenue opportunities.
• Balance guest experience and operation.

“We’re talking about some significant construction,” Dewitz said. “Trying to really provide those animals a dynamic home to live in … to best support their natural behaviors. And we have some high-congestion and other areas we’re going to try and address as we build out the campus.”

The master plan breaks the zoo into various zones, with the west end identified for the most significant improvements and “some pretty outdated infrastructure in places and barren land in other places,” she continued.

As soon as visitors enter the plaza, the vision is to enhance a coastal island zone with flamingoes and a focus on nature adventure, tying into the new splash pad, pollinator garden and children’s farm, which will see long-term changes that aren’t identified yet.

The African zone is slated for sooner improvements, focusing on the giraffe and bongo exhibit with larger indoor enclosures and a layout that would allow for easier movement – both people and animals – in that area of the zoo. A new cafe would allow for outdoor seating adjacent to giraffe viewing.

The longtime “mountain” near the center of the zoo, which is original to the property, is envisioned as being incorporated into a new primate facility that could get up to a second-story boardwalk “to have some mimicry between primates and humans,” Dewitz said.

Other zoos, including Minneapolis and Lincoln’s children’s zoo, have built “treetop-style” exhibits in recent years, allowing visitors a new perspective on the animals.

“Everything we’re doing in Sioux Falls is very much based on our style and our size of property,” Dewitz said. “We don’t want to be a mini Omaha zoo. We want to be uniquely Sioux Falls.”

Other improvements include a new red panda exhibit, a river otter exhibit and a relocation of the tigers that would make room for leopards.

The forest and grasslands zone has some of the most deferred maintenance and could become a better exhibit for bison, including an interpretive center.

The zoo also contains a significant amount of undeveloped land that could be better used as a habitat for conservation efforts, Dewitz said.

“We may have some ability to weave it together and create some flex zones in the zoo, to keep it different and dynamic for guests as well as the animals that live there,” she said, adding the highly endangered American red wolf provides a good opportunity for additional conservation.

Other future projects could include a dedicated venue for events.

The Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation board and Sioux Falls City Council are scheduled to vote on the proposed master plan later this spring. Its vision positions the zoo to meet the current and future needs of both animals and visitors, Dewitz said.

“People learn by doing,” she said. “And they need to have these immersive experiences that help them garner that connection to the natural world and make those memorable moments.”

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