A major expansion of Seneca Park Zoo that's been in the works for more than a decade moved a step closer to reality on Tuesday.
"This is the biggest change many of us will see at Seneca Park Zoo in our lifetimes," Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said at a ceremonial groundbreaking for the zoo's new indoor/outdoor Tropics Exhibit.
Located just beyond the zoo's main entrance, the exhibit will feature a tropical rain forest and island, and Pacific reef habitats for a Komodo dragon, giant Pacific octopus, coral cat shark, jellyfish and more.
The 48,000-square-foot space will be home to lemurs and orangutans traversing an overhead canopy.
"To see them swinging through the air high over our heads, having the opportunity to explore the entire building — the way the canopy trail is being set up is just going to be magical," said zoo director Bob Lee.
Bornean orangutans and lemurs have not resided at the Rochester zoo since the menagerie style main zoo building with primates enclosed in cages with steel bars and concrete floors was demolished in 2018.
"In years past, it was about showing the animals so people could see what the animals look like," Lee explained. "Now it's about saving species."
According to Seneca Park Zoo Society executive director Pamela Reed Sanchez, the project is a reflection of the zoo's 30-year commitment to the conservation of critically endangered species.
"To have those species back here at the zoo is very important to us, because this community has been behind saving orangutans and saving lemurs," she said. "It's not just that these things are happening a hemisphere away, but that we are all connected, and we all make an impact."
The Tropical Exhibit is slated to open in late 2029. Funding for the $135 million project will come from Monroe County, New York state, and private donors.
