NEWS

Timeline: History of the Indianapolis Zoo

Star report
Katy the orangutan looks on as the local media tour the Indianapolis Zoo's new International Orangutan Center on March 20, 2014. The $20 million center will have its official opening on Memorial Day weekend.

1940:Lowell Nussbaum initiates public discussion about a zoo through his columns in The Indianapolis Times.

Oct. 24, 1944: Articles of Incorporation for the Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc. are filed.

Aug. 6, 1962: Construction begins for the Indianapolis Zoo.

The original Indianapolis Zoo was not yet open when this photo was taken in February 1964.

April 18, 1964: Indianapolis Zoo opens as a children's zoo on 20 acres on the city's Eastside.

1979: Indianapolis Zoological Society commissions a study on the possibility of moving to a larger site.

Retro Indy:The Indianapolis Zoo

June 21, 1982: Indianapolis Zoological Society signs a letter of intent to construct a new facility in White River State Park.

July 1983: Marlin Perkins, host of "Wild Kingdom," kicks off the capital campaign drive for the new zoo.

The old Indianapolis Zoo was lit up for the Christmas season in this 1984 photo.

Sept. 8, 1985: Officials break ground for the new zoo in White River State Park.

April 1986: Construction begins.

Nov. 1, 1987: Old zoo facility closes after hosting 5.5 million visitors.

Rachel Elizabeth Gordon, 4, held the hand of her aunt, Beth Smith, as they looked through the locked gates of the old Indianapolis Zoo on Nov. 1, 1987. The old zoo on East. 30th Street had closed for good and would reopen the following spring at its new location on White River Park.

1988: Animals are relocated to the new facility.

June 11, 1988: At a cost of $64 million, the new Indianapolis Zoo opens Downtown in White River State Park with five times as many animals.

December 1989: Marine Mammals Pavilion opens.

July 1990: Deserts of the World exhibit opens.

Jan. 18, 1993: Jeffrey Bonner becomes president and CEO.

Oct. 26, 1994: The Encounters Exploration Center opens.

1996: Zoo breaks ground for the Polly Horton Hix Animal Care Complex, a $3.3 million veterinary and quarantine facility, which opens in 1997.

1997: Groundbreaking for White River Gardens.

1998: Construction of White River Gardens; zoo celebrates 10th anniversary of its White River State Park location.

December 1998: Roy Shea retires as zoo executive director and chief operating officer.

March 1999: The zoo draws up plans and hires a design firm for a new Indiana State Aquarium.

The $14.5 million Hilbert Garden Conservatory and White River Gardens, showcasing more than 1,000 species of plants under a 65-foot dome, opened June 13, 1999.

June 13, 1999: White River Gardens opens.

March 6, 2000: Amali, the first artifically conceived elephant, is born at the zoo.

April 2001: The zoo breaks ground for a new $7.8 million elephant exhibit.

Elephants were brought in to share in the April 2001 groundbreaking of the zoo's new $7.8 million, 82,000-square-foot African Elephant Preserve. The preserve opened June 22, 2002.

October 2001: The zoo receives the Edward H. Bean Award from the American Zoo Aquarium Association for pioneering work in elephant reproduction.

March 2002: New daily admission prices and annual membership costs make the Indianapolis Zoo among the most expensive in the country.

June 6, 2002: Michael Crowther is named the new president and CEO.

June 22, 2002: Official opening of the $7.8 million African Elephant Preserve.

March 21, 2003: The zoo announces a groundbreaking conservation initiative: the Polly Horton Hix Institute for Research and Conservation. The institute will be funded by an $8 million gift from Hix. It is the largest single gift in the history of the zoo.

December 2004: The Indianapolis Zoo announces the establishment of a $100,000 international conservation prize to recognize people who work to protect and save animals and to spotlight the importance of preserving endangered species. Eli Lilly and Co. donated $1 million to the zoo's capital campaign to launch the Indianapolis Prize.

A $10 million Dolphin Adventure Dome renovation opened in May 2005, with a giant glass bubble allowing people to walk under water as dolphins swim by opens.

May 2005: A $10 million Dolphin Adventure Dome renovation, with a giant glass bubble allowing people to walk under water as dolphins swim by opens.

May 2006: A meerkat exhibit opens as part of a $400,000 upgrade to the Deserts Dome.

May 2007: The redesigned $9.5 million Oceans exhibit, featuring a shark "touch pond" opens.

November 2007: A fire at the zoo kills several small animals. The fire began in a corner of a holding room for animals featured in special programs. Fire damage was estimated at about $120,000.

May 2008: Two male Queensland koalas arrive in Indy in time for the unveiling of their summer long exhibit Memorial Day weekend.

Kiak the brown bear cub arrived at the zoo in September 2008 with her brother K'etnu. They were orphaned when Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials had to kill their mother because she was suspected in attacks on people at a park outside Anchorage.

September 2008: K'etnu and Kiak, brown bear cubs, arrive at the zoo. The brother-sister duo were orphaned when Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials had to kill their mother because she was suspected in attacks on people at a park outside Anchorage.

May 2010: $2 million cheetah exhibit debuts. The exhibit includes three females and two males imported from zoos in Ohio.

December 2011: Unveils plans for a $26 million International Orangutan Center, saying this exhibit will be the only one of its kind in the world.

March 25, 2014: Two orangutans, Rocky and Knobi, bolt their new facility but are quickly corralled. Facility will be open to the public in May, 2014.

Compiled by the Indianapolis Star Library Staff. Sources: Indianapolis Zoo, Encyclopedia of Indianapolis and news reports