NORFOLK — The Virginia Zoo announced Wednesday it has begun a construction campaign to build a new education center and rhino valley.
The Macon and Joan Brock EdVenture and Exploration Campus will feature two classrooms, two outdoor amphitheaters and animal trails. Greg Bockheim, the Norfolk zoo’s executive director, said the center will serve as a base camp for professional educators and volunteers. It will offer virtual reality safari adventures and underwater programming. Animal trails will allow smaller zoo residents like red pandas to walk right above guests through a tunnel.
“It should be a one of a kind in this region,” Bockheim said Wednesday.
In addition to the facilities, Bockheim said the zoo will make investments in connectivity and Wi-Fi at the zoo. He said this would allow classrooms and students at home to view the animals, such as through a livestream.
“I remember coming here as a child with my mother and father on Sundays and bringing a picnic (to) Lafayette Park,” Joan Brock, namesake of the new development, said. “It was 53 acres, right here in the middle of Norfolk, and it’s been a beautiful area and been a special place all these years. I just want to thank all the people that made (the announcement) happen.
“It’s been a pleasure for me to be involved in this situation. The zoo — it’s a gem. It’s a real asset to our community, and it’s something that we all need to take care of and be respectful of.”
The Perry Family Rhino Valley, will use about five acres of undeveloped space on zoo property to build a habitat for one-horned rhinos. A boardwalk will connect the habitat to Asia: Trail of the Tiger, where three treehouse classrooms will be built to give guests a better view.
The greater one-horned rhino, or “Indian rhino,” is the largest of the Asian rhino species. Once widespread across the entire northern part of India and Nepal, rhino populations plummeted as they were hunted for sport or killed as agricultural pests. Now, there are about 4,000 left.
In addition to the rhino exhibit, the zoo’s turtle oasis will have a second phase of development. The oasis, which officially added its turtles in May, will be extended within the Edventure and Exploration Campus. Greenhouses and pollinator gardens will be upgraded, as well, and the zoo will improve greenhouse growing centers and install the only public facing compost learning center in Hampton Roads. According to the zoo, 100 pounds of food waste thrown away at the zoo will become 20-30 pounds of compost that will be used on the grounds.
Mayor Kenny Alexander said the project’s energy and environmental efficiency is what he looks forward to most.
“Norfolk is 90% developed,” he said. “So what you see in Norfolk is not only conservation, but it’s preservation as well as new development. There’s a lot of mixed-use in being creative and innovative as we rethink, as we retool and provide the latest iteration of our city. We’re doing it in a smart way, using data — using evidence — to drive our change, (and) to drive our transformation.
“It’s important that we take in consideration all of those factors so that we are sustainable.”
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
![A nearly century-old Oklahoma company that supplies stock for rodeos had as many as 70 horses die a week ago after receiving what an owner believes was tainted feed. Rhett Beutler, co-owner of Beutler and Son Rodeo Co. near Elk City, told KFOR-TV that the horses died shortly […]](https://www.pilotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/migration/2023/04/14/3X2JI5FLARG3XCZMNVHACWQSAA.jpg?w=535 "A nearly century-old Oklahoma company that supplies stock for rodeos had as many as 70 horses die a week ago after receiving what an owner believes was tainted feed. Rhett Beutler, co-owner of Beutler and Son Rodeo Co. near Elk City, told KFOR-TV that the horses died shortly […]")
