Sedgwick County Zoo | Master Plan

The Master Plan for the Sedgwick County Zoo seeks to transform the Zoo into one of the largest multi-day destinations in Kansas. The plan seeks to create more activities in all areas of the Zoo, increase the number of visitors, enhance guests’ interactions with the animals and focus on animal welfare. Visitors will see more space for animals, an enhanced zoo-geographic organization, exceptional animal care, and an increased focus on the Zoo’s core value of conservation. 

Project Details

An African-themed lodge with an indoor water park will be built on the edge of the African Savanna exhibit with more than 250 overnight guest rooms along with a new event venue that can be accessed from inside and outside the Zoo for 2,000 guests. This will also provide a space for outdoor concerts, education, animal demonstrations and overnight campouts.

Near the center of the Zoo, an endangered-species animal carousel will entertain the youngest Zoo visitors. A large aquarium will feature an immersive shark exhibit and a stingray exhibit where visitors can watch, touch and feed them. An aerial Sky Ride will whisk visitors across the Zoo, 40 feet in the air, from the train station to the African Savanna. From this ride, guests will be eye-level with orangutans lounging in their new climbing towers.

The Plan also calls for enhancing guest amenities by providing kennels for pets, expanding play opportunities throughout, providing respites from the weather, adding a creamery and beer garden, reworking the Zoo’s entrance, and adding more ticketing options. Visitors will see more space for animals, an enhanced zoo-geographic organization, exceptional animal care, and an increased focus on the Zoo’s core value of conservation.