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2 November 2007 – 6 June 2009
The fire: The African Journey — the project that would replace the thirty-one-year-old African Veldt — was the largest in the zoo's history, and it nearly began with a disaster. On 2 November 2007, artificial rocks made of Styrofoam caught fire in the new African lion exhibit under construction, the centerpiece of the expansion. Thick black smoke billowed across the skies of Fort Wayne and much of the region. No workers and no animals were harmed. The build continued.
The opening: The African Journey opened to the public on 6 June 2009, on the former Veldt's ground east of the Central Zoo. The zoo announced the project at $9 million, the largest expansion in its history; later compilations put the finished figure at $10.5 million, and both figures stand in the record as their sources give them. The Journey brought the lion exhibit the fire had threatened, a giraffe feeding station, the Sky Safari chairlift ride over the savanna, plains zebras and wildebeest, spotted hyenas, bat-eared foxes, servals, mongooses, vultures and the rest of the savanna roster, with an African village and cultural center. The city's history records what the opening did for the gate: more than 613,000 people visited the zoo in 2009, "far outpacing the previous record of 540,000 guests in 1994."
Sources:
- WTHI-TV News 10, "Lion exhibit under construction catches fire," 3 November 2007 (the 2 November 2007 Styrofoam-rock fire; no workers or animals harmed).
- Kevin Kilbane, "Zoo's African Journey: A kid's eye view," News-Sentinel, 4 June 2009, and the zoo's African Journey announcements (the 6 June 2009 opening; the $9 million project; the exhibit contents).
- City-Data's Fort Wayne Children's Zoo compilation (the African Journey at $10.5 million), city-data.com — the later figure, printed beside the zoo's own.
- City of Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department, "Franke Park History" (613,000 visitors in 2009; the previous record of 540,000 in 1994), cityoffortwayne.in.gov.