Zoo hatches plan for reptile house

When Zoo Atlanta’s reptile and amphibian house was constructed five decades ago, it was the “best thinking of 1959,” said Dennis Kelly.

Today, not so much.

The zoo’s reptile and amphibian house —- the home of snakes, lizards and a turtle or two —- is lagging behind the times. Unlike newer facilities, it is very linear instead of free-flowing, exhibits are small and the entrance lacks the “wow” it once did.

Kelly, the zoo’s chief executive officer and president, said the building, which was designed in the late 1950s and opened around 1962, is still safe. “But it is the oldest public building we have that is still doing what it was originally designed to do.”

Zoo officials are in the design stage of what they hope will be a new reptile and amphibian house that will almost double the size of the current building. The design will be done by early fall, and the building could open in the next two to three years.

The price tag, which has not been finalized, could be $13 million to $14 million, Kelly said.

“To really reach our mission like we have in the other areas around the zoo, we really need to make some changes,” said Dwight Lawson, the zoo’s senior vice president of collections, education and conservation.

Lawson said the zoo also is working on plans for a new animal hospital.

The design for the new reptile and amphibian house will feature a more open floor plan, a separate theater building, outdoor space for turtles and the ability to view habitats underwater.

“It will be much more striking, more interactive, a little broader exhibit space,” Lawson said.

The move is critical for the zoo. While the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which updated Zoo Atlanta’s accreditation last week, was very complimentary about the attraction overall, the group noted that “the facility itself, in their words, is a major concern primarily because of age,” Kelly said.

The AZA also made the observation five years ago during the last accreditation review, Kelly said.

The collection houses about 400 to 500 animals. One of the things on the zoo’s wish list is a separate breeding facility for endangered species and the ability to house animals like gharial, a critically endangered species of crocodile from India.

Zoo Atlanta used to exhibit gharial in one of the solaria at the reptile house, but had to send it to other zoos because Zoo Atlanta could not maintain heat in the exhibit because of aging of the facility, Kelly said.

The new reptile and amphibian exhibit will be built on the northeast side of the zoo near the Boulevard parking lot. It will be in an area that one day, according to the zoo’s long-range plans, will become the attraction’s entrance, as it once was in the past.

“I think it will be the premier reptile and amphibian complex in the world when it’s complete,” Kelly said.

Breakdown of new facility

The new amphibian and reptile facility will almost double the size of the 1960s-era building now standing, from about 11,000 square feet to 19,035 square feet:

Reptile exhibit —- 13,561 square ft.

Theater —- 1,449 square ft.

Komodo NH —- 1,368 square ft.

Greenhouse —- 2,657 square ft.