GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — As John Ball Zoo gets set to wrap up another season this weekend, officials have already begun working on the next 10 seasons.

The Grand Rapids zoo’s 10-year master plan (PDF) was unveiled Tuesday, detailing the ways it will change over the next decade, from additional parking to new animal exhibits. This comes on the heels of the zoo celebrating record attendance in 2024 with more than 800,000 guests.

Initial aspects of the plan detail a few new exhibits that will be part of the zoo in the coming years, including a proposal to accommodate giraffes. The current idea is to set up a 1.5-acre exhibit that can house five giraffes and their offspring. The giraffe enclosure will also provide space for feeding stations that guests can take part in and interact with the animals.

Peter D’Arienzo, the CEO of John Ball Zoo, told News 8 the plan is to begin construction in the next few months and welcome giraffes by 2026. When giraffes will be ready to move to John Ball Zoo is a different question.

“We don’t take animals from the wild so it’s working with other zoos that are accredited with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). And we’re particularly interested in acquiring Masai giraffes because they can handle much colder temperatures,” D’Arienzo said.

Giraffes are just part of the zoo’s African expansion. D’Arienzo said that the exhibit will serve as the backbone and framework for bringing in other animals like ostriches and possibly rhinos in the future.

While zoo officials are looking toward the future, one other new exhibit set to open in the next 10 years is from John Ball Zoo’s past. Before it was Monkey Island, the center portion of the zoo housed sea lions. D’Arienzo said the goal is to now bring the animals back in a brand-new exhibit that will give guests the chance to watch them above and underwater.

John Ball Zoo is also set to become just one of a handful of zoos in the country where guests can feed flamingos. An event center that can hold parties of 400 is also part of the plan, with hopes of hosting more weddings, conferences and other special events.

Arguably the most impressive and most ambitious part of the master plan details the South American forest habitat. John Ball Zoo is planning to reshape the zoo by geographic region and the South American forest will be just one of those. Unlike many other parts of the zoo, it will be a multilevel indoor habitat that will house capybaras, jaguars, free-flying birds and a proposed 30-foot waterfall. D’Arienzo said there will also be a restaurant at the top of the enclosure which guests can eat at and gaze upon the full habitat.

“It will be the largest indoor habitat in North America,” D’Arienzo said. “Once this is done, we’ll be able to truly create a winter zoo experience. Imagine being here in January, it’s snowing outside, and you’re in this South American forest.”

D’Arienzo also teased that the South American forest element will be massive and that it could take guests an hour and a half just to explore that habitat in its entirety.

A majority of the funding for the master plan will come through the zoo’s fundraising campaigns. D’Arienzo said the zoo has raised roughly $50 million in the past 10 years. Other monetary contributions are set to come through funds sent by the city, county and state as well as about $14 million the zoo received in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.

“We dove deep and we were very aspirational,” D’Arienzo said. “It’s not an inexpensive project to complete. All master plans are aspirational and it tells a story about where we’re headed and then we have to go out and connect with this amazing community that has supported us for well over a century.”

D’Arienzo said the master plan was created with the mission of promoting conservation and the work the zoo does in that field. Whether it’s working with other AZA organizations or local agencies, the zoo touts its research and work helping those endangered species like the Poweshiek skipperling.

“We did the master plan because we want to save wildlife. We did the master plan because we want to educate our community on the importance of wildlife. We did the master plan because we wanted to serve our community by providing it a place setting for the community to come together and spend time with loved ones,” D’Arienzo said.

The plan includes revisions to proposed parking changes after strong resistance to building a new lot in what is now green space and overflow parking area.

“We came up with some great plans, but you have to bring along the entire community in those plans,” Allmon Forrester, the zoo’s vice president of planning and sustainability, told News 8 Tuesday. “We had some different hiccups along the way, and I think we found a great plan that everyone can support.”

The latest plan for parking additions would expand the existing lot while leaving a stripe of green space for neighbors and visitors to continue to enjoy in addition to a 150-foot residential buffer on the east edge of the park.

Construction on more parking on the south side of the park is already underway. It’s the first new, paved parking to be installed at the zoo since 1963.

John Ball Zoo is inviting the community to offer their input on the master plan, with four separate meetings where the plan will be presented and the floor opened for questions and answers. Dates and times for the meetings are as follows:

• Nov. 19 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Grand Rapids Center for Community Transformation
• Nov. 20 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the North Kent County Campus
• Nov. 20 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Savannah Ballroom at John Ball Zoo
• Nov. 21 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gaines Township Office

A county commission vote to approve the master plan vote is scheduled for early next month. If passed, work on the Africa exhibit and giraffe feeding zone could begin by the end of the year.