When Randall Oaks Zoo opens for the season this weekend, it will no longer be a seasonal venue that closes in the winter.
Thanks to the zoo’s new World of Wonders building, which is set to open in mid-May, the facility will have a permanent, climate-controlled home for its 25-plus small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates that will allow the Dundee Township Park District zoo to be open year-round.
In fact, the zoo has actually doubled its footprint to more than five acres in the last year with the addition of the Wonders building as well as a new climate-controlled pony wheel structure, also opening in May, and a butterfly garden, expected to open in July, zoo curator Sara Peters said.
And all in time for the zoo’s 60th anniversary, which is being celebrated in August.
Beyond allowing the zoo — part of the 140-acre Randall Oaks Park in West Dundee — to be open all year long, the World of Wonders building means the animals calling it home will no longer need to “move in and out of their public exhibits based upon temperature,” Peters said.
The unheated barn in which they lived during the winter will remain in use as a place to house some of those animals, like a ball python and turtles, that zoo employees take to schools and other places, Peters said.
The new 2,200-square-foot building will guide guests through different biomes, immersing them in grasslands, forests and deserts. Outdoor weather conditions won’t affect its use and there will be new restrooms for patrons’ use.
Peters said the new building also lets them expand programs on such things as conservation and habitat protection and give people a chance to connect with animals on a more intimate basis.
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The expansion project cost about $1.67 million, mostly funded with a $750,000 public museum capital grant through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and an additional $100,000 in grant money. The park district paid the remaining cost.
New this spring is a group of prairie dog pups, bringing the menagerie’s animal count to 157, Peters said. The zoo employs 66 people, many of whom are seasonal workers.
Being a year-round facility means they’ll see an increase in visitors over the 60,000 they typically saw in their March-to-December seasons. Those 470 people who pay for zoo memberships will also get more days to access the venue, Peters said.
Zoo admission is $6. Memberships are $28 per person for township residents and $33 for nonresidents.
The zoo opened Aug. 9, 1964. Before that, it was a working family farm, purchased by the park district, and it initially remained that when opened to the public, Peters said.
Over the years, however, the setting became more zoo-like, with a variety of animals now that includes cows, horses, goats, ducks, turkeys, chickens, a groundhog, camel, emus, a bobcat, a macaw, snakes, turtles and an array of other species. In the last 10 to 15 years, the zoo has put a greater focus on conservation, Peters said.
While staff is working out details for the zoo’s anniversary celebration, this opening weekend will feature a birthday party at 1 p.m. Saturday for Sweet Pea, a mini cow turning 8, and the Easter Bunny will be available for photos from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.