Cleaning The Pool

Louisville Zoo Glacier Run staff enter the 108,000-gallon Seal and Seal Lion pool for the first time on June 7, 2010, to vacuum and clean it to prepare it for the seals and sea lions. The exhibit is set to have a public Grand Opening on June 30, 2010, at 10:30 a.m.

Lightening Strikes

High atop the Glacier Run exhibit stands a tall metallic rod with a unique design. This is the new wave in lighting protection. Because of the risk of a lightning strike and the large amount of water held in the pools, the rod system is actually protection for the exhibit and the animals it will house.

Amphitheater Seating

Once the seal and sea lion portion of Glacier Run is complete, there will be shaded seating for 200 plus room for 100 standing to watch seal and sea lion training. Currently, workers are welding amphitheater structure beams that will eventually be painted and decorated with fabric from above.

BIG BLUE

If you go past the Glacier Run construction, you will notice large big, blue tanks.

Just in case you were curious, these will be tanks filled with sand that will filter all the salt water that will be used in Glacier Run.

FAKE OR REAL?

Even in 27 degree weather, the Glacier Run construction team is working hard. One project that is being created is a 26-foot glacier ice wall in the polar bear exhibit portion of Glacier Run.

The detail is spectacular because the glacier actually looks like it is pushing through a rock face and has real icicles. The glacier wall is made up of white concrete. One of the final steps in the process will be adding paint including touches of blue paint to create a true glacier look.

To protect the ongoing work of the glacier wall, plastic is currently draped over scaffolding so it doesn’t get too cold. Since the wall isn’t visible when walking past the construction area, here some sneak peek photos for you!

Remember – the polar bear habitat won’t open until 2011 but the seal and sea lion habitat opens this summer!!

A Real Backyard Action Hero!

Can one person make a difference?

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Seiler thinks so.

After reading an article about the Zoo’s upcoming Glacier Run exhibit in Zoo’s current Backyard Action Hero Guidebook which focuses on adventures in the Tundra, Elizabeth was inspired to help.

So the Dunn Elementary third-grade student proposed a plan to her principal Margie Eckerle to let the students collect Cents for Seals and Sea Lions and Pennies for Polar Bears.

Principal Eckerle agreed and promised that for every milk carton filled with money, that class would receive one extra minute of recess.

Elizabeth urged her classmates to donate their spare change and in just 10 days they raised $737 for the Zoo’s Glacier Run exhibit!

The Zoo is honored by Elizabeth’s donation and encouraged by the commitment and generosity she and her schoolmates have shown. She is an inspiration to us all.

If this story has motivated and spurred you into wanting to help build Glacier Run, too, please contact the Zoo’s Development Department at (502) 459-2181 to find out how you can help.

Also, be sure to download the Zoo’s Backyard Action Hero Guidebook focusing adventures in the Tundra that inspired Elizabeth at http://www.louisvillezoo.org/BAH/index.htm.

You can also see WAVE 3’s news story and video of Elizabeth at http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=11858114.

What's 8,000 pounds, 5 inches thick, 13 feet wide, 21 feet tall and Clear?

Glacier Run construction hit a big milestone this week. Make that an 8,000 pound milestone.

An 8,000 pound acrylic window 5-inches thick, 13-feet wide and 21-feet tall (that’s as tall as a two-story building, wider than two full-sized pickup trucks parked side-by-side and as heavy as 15 grand pianos) was installed at the Zoo’s Glacier Run exhibit.

The window, designed to contain 85,000 gallons of water in the polar bear outdoor pool and withstand a full grown 1,000 pound polar bear swimming at full speed, was lifted with a 65-ton crane.

It was one of four large acrylic windows installed this week—one for seal and sea lion viewing and three for polar bear viewing (including the 8,000 pound one).

Local media showed up to cover the installation and talked to Mark Zoeller, Louisville Zoo Assistant Director, and Tom Young, Project Manager with Whittenberg Construction.