Penguins to get luxe digs in Detroit
ROYAL OAK, Mich. >> The Detroit Zoo will be home to the largest center in the U.S. dedicated to penguins thanks to the most substantial private donation in its 85-year history, the zoo announced Wednesday.
Construction on the $21 million facility will begin “in earnest” in March and is expected to open in late 2015, said Ron Kagan, the zoo’s executive director and CEO.
“We don’t think there is anything comparable,” Kagan said at a news event that featured a 3-D film and “snow” that fell on attendees.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest … facility that is entirely dedicated to penguins.”
The 24,000-square-foot center is being made possible, in part, by the biggest private donation in the zoo’s history, $10 million given by Stephen Polk and his family. Polk is vice chairman of the zoo’s board and a longtime executive with automotive information provider R.L. Polk & Co. The facility will carry the name The Polk Family Penguin Conservation Center.
Kagan said the zoo still needs to raise $8 million to reach the $21 million total.
The exterior of the center will look like an iceberg. Inside, visitors will have the opportunity to see the seabirds “deep-dive” in a chilled 310,000-gallon, 25-foot-deep aquatic area. It is something that can’t be seen anywhere else, even in nature, the zoo said.
“Penguins will literally be doing laps around us,” said Kagan, who took several research trips to Antarctica, including this past January.
South Dakota lists fall foliage sites
PIERRE, S.D. >> South Dakota’s cooling temperatures mean the fall foliage will soon be on display as the leaves start to turn color.
The state Tourism Department has posted a list of locations around the state where the viewing is especially good.
In the West it includes Spearfish Canyon and the George S. Mickelson Trail as well as some roads through Indian Country. Southeast South Dakota sites include the Lewis & Clark Recreation Area and Newton Hills State Park. In the northeast the foliage can be seen at Nicollet Tower and Sica Hollow State Park. And in central South Dakota the viewing is good at West Whitlock Recreation Area.
The website to the locations and details is www.travelsd.com/Outdoors/Fall-Foliage.
