ONE OF THE TWO GIRAFFES AT THE PITTSBURGH ZOO & AQUARIUM, WHICH WILL BE GETTING A NEW EXPANDED ENCLOSURE IN THE FIRST PHASE OF THE ZOO’S NEW MASTER PLAN. | PHOTO BY PAUL A. SELVAGGIO

“Wow.”

That’s the exclamation that Dr. Jeremy Goodman loves to hear from guests visiting the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.

And that’s what he will be seeking as he rolls out three phases of the zoo’s ambitious master plan over the next 20 years, which he announced Thursday.

The plan calls for a total re-creation and reinvention of the 77-acre zoo in Highland Park, with the primary goal of providing more space for many of the animals and offering “state-of-the-art, top-notch” facilities. 

For example, in the first phase, you’ll see giraffes and the Bornean orangutans getting much larger enclosures and visibility.

“When you see people going ‘wow’ you get it,” said Goodman, president and CEO who took the helm of the 126-year-old zoo in October 2021. “And that’s exactly what we want to do with this master plan — create those ‘wow’ moments.”

Several new animals will be introduced along the way: warthogs, giant bats known as flying foxes, tapirs, okapis and possibly wolves and grizzlies. Only one major animal will be phased out — the rhinoceros — because that species needs a lot more space to roam than the zoo can accommodate. But that won’t happen for another 12 years or more, likely after the zoo’s lone black rhino passes on. It won’t be replaced.

Others will get more visibility. Many guests without children bypass Kids Kingdom because they think it’s only for children. But they miss such animals as the meerkats, kangaroos and wallabies. They  will be moved to their own areas outside of Kids Kingdom.

There also will be some unexpected amenities: Goodman hopes to establish a full-time, licensed preschool in the greatly expanded education center. And it will add the Soaring Eagle — a 700-foot-long zip ride that will be suspended 100 feet above the ground (but not over animal enclosures).

The master plan was formulated over 1½ years and after reviewing public comments from 9,000 surveys. While funding is in hand for some projects, capital campaigns will be launched for others.

It also comes on the heels of the announcement last month that the zoo had been re-accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a goal of Goodman’s since he started at the zoo, which draws nearly 1 million visitors a year.

The plan’s first phase will take from five to seven years to complete.

First phase ($54.5 million, with another $20 million listed under “opportunistic plans”)

Construction is expected to start before the end of this year on a new $5.5 million entrance and ticketing area to replace the 30-year-old space to make it more guest-friendly and ADA accessible. There will be restrooms here. This is fully funded by the Hillman Foundation and should be ready by summer 2025. Goodman also said as an “opportunity-based project” he hopes to add an incline or funicular like those on Mount Washington to carry visitors up the 800 feet from the parking lot to the top pathway as another alternative to the elevators and tall escalator. “We want this plan to be a very Pittsburgh plan, not just a generic zoo plan,” he said.

THE GIRAFFE BARN | COURTESY PITTSBURGH ZOO & AQUARIUM

Giraffe Barn: $8 million to more than quadruple the inside space for giraffes allowing guests to observe the animals from a catwalk overlooking their areas for year-round viewing. Currently guests cannot see the two giraffes — Lewis and Sox — when they’re inside in the winter because the space is too small. This larger space will extend their time outside and also allow the zoo to add more giraffes and embark on a breeding program.

The Islands: $32.5 million. The zoo will move its Bornean orangutans to a new Malaysian area at the highest point of the zoo property, where they will have a full acre under a netted enclosure to swing and move. They also will mix with siamangs (the largest of the gibbon monkeys) and Malayan tapirs (new to the zoo). Currently the orangutans have lived in a rocky cave in the zoo’s Tropical Forest for their entire lives. “We can do better. We can do a lot better, and we’re really excited to do this project,” Goodman said.

BORNEAN ORANGUTAN | PHOTO BY PAUL A. SELVAGGIO

Giant bats, called Flying Foxes, will be added, and the enclosure for the clouded leopards will more than double.

Expanding the Education Center: $8.4 million This building on One Wild Place has reached its capacity (the summer zoo camps sell out in 12 to 24 hours, he said). This will add classrooms to double the programming in three years. This also will provide more space for the zoo’s ambassador animals, which are taken to schools and senior centers.  

This is where he also hopes to add the preschool; he said a half-dozen zoos across the country have full-time, licensed preschools on their properties.

Also in the first phase, under “opportunistic plans” is the $20.1 million refresh of The Village, the marketplace and gift shop area at the top of the escalators.  As part of this, he wants to move such exhibits as the anteaters and flamingos closer to the entrance. Right now, there is an 8-minute walk from the entrance to when visitors see their first animal – he wants to bring them closer. (Moving these will allow for a doubling of the space for the endangered tigers in a later phase and open up that program to breeding.)

Second Phase will involve replacing the current Tropical Rainforest with an African Rainforest, with expanded gorilla habitats and 400-person premiere event facility. Here there will be enclosures for the okapi, also known as forest giraffes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and pygmy hippos, which are native to the forests and swamps of West Africa. 

The Jambo Grill eating area will be expanded with a new deck. This is where the Soaring Eagle zip ride will be, as well as a new carousel that will spotlight endangered species. 

Third Phase will focus on the African Lowlands, where the current rhino exhibit is. The new warthog exhibit will be added and meerkats moved here. The space for the Amur leopards will be doubled.

There will be an African Savanna overlook, and new Australian Walkabout area where the kangaroos and wallabies will be moved, and then Pennsylvania Wild to educate guests about native wildlife.

One of the opportunistic projects is Yellowstone, which would exhibit grizzly bears and wolves.

In the public surveys, the grizzly bears were the most requested animal to bring back to the zoo, Goodman said. But the reason it is not given higher priority, he said, is because the zoo wants to provide better spaces for its existing animals first before adding an exhibit like this. “We need to focus on the animals we have,” he said.

There also are plans to renovate the aquarium, which was last rebuilt 20 years ago. “It’s time to do a full renovation.” he said. 

Goodman emphasized that the master plan has been heavily researched and thought out.

“We wanted to make sure that everything in this plan is achievable…we didn’t want to put pie-in-the-sky stuff in here that we know can never happen. Every single thing in this plan I know we can do here in Pittsburgh.”