Des Moines Children's Zoo: Iowa Time Machine December 23, 1963

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On December 23, 1963, the City of Des Moines signed an agreement to create the Des Moines Children’s Zoo (now Blank Park Zoo) on the south side of Iowa’s capital city. The only accredited zoo in Iowa, the 49-acre zoo continues to teach Iowans about the natural world through conservation, education, research, and recreation.

After Abraham Harry Blank donated $150,000, the city constructed a 22-acre nursery-rhyme-themed zoo featuring a moated castle, Monkey Island, a barnyard, an animal petting zoo, and a miniature train. The zoo opened in May 1966. Over 185,000 people visited the zoo during its inaugural year, an attendance record that stood until 1986.

As attendance declined over the 1970s, concerned citizens formed The Blank Park Zoo Foundation in 1981, which raised $1.4 million to pair with a voter-approved $1.8 million bond referendum to fund extensive renovation of the zoo. The project modernized the zoo, moving it from a ‘children’s zoo’ to a zoogeographic theme with landscaped outdoor environments. The zoo reopened to the public in 1986.

Over the following decades, the zoo averaged over 200,000 visitors a year and gained accreditation from the American Aquariums Association, started popular programs like Campfire Summer Camp and Night Eyes, and hosted visiting celebrity animals. #Iowa #History #Zoo #OTD #Animals