Early history of the Peoria Zoo -
As early as the turn of the century, animals were displayed in Peoria's parks. The octagonal Japanese styled building near the pavilion in Glen Oak Park was built to house rabbits. As assortment of pheasants, guinea pigs, pigeons and two talking crows were later kept there. Pens in Glen Oak Park held elk and deer. Bradley and Detweiller Parks also supported animals in pens until 1945. The more than one hundred large animals, deer elk and bison, were threatening to over populate and do damage to the parks. To reduce the populations, many were given away or traded for other animals.
Enthusiasm was stirred in the middle 1920's for construction of a zoo in Peoria. Some 13,000 children and adults signed petitions favoring a zoo constructed by the Park District. Bradley Park was tentatively selected as the best of the several locations considered. Following a suggestion by an architectural firm with experience in zoo design, the park was surveyed to determine the best location.
Area residents objected to a Bradley Park zoo because of potential damage to the value of their properties. The legality of using the park as a zoo was raised in the dispute. A lawyer's examination of the deed concluded that because of the wording, any use other than its current form as a public park would be illegal. The other sites were reconsidered. Glen Oak Park and a site near Madison Golf Course were possibilities, but Detweiller Park was selected as having the best potential.
The Park Board was faced with a problem beyond the location. In the midst of the depression when many were out of work and often in doubt about their next meal, the question of housing and feeding "dumb animals" at public expense was raised.
"Should the elephant be warmly housed and fed, while underprivileged citizens shiver and go hungry? Should the monkey have expert care while an undernourished child is in need of milk and fresh air? Should a lion have his daily ration of fresh meat while poor people are denied meat soup?"
While some aired their concern for the underprivileged, others expressed concern for damaged property value. Residents near Detweiller Park petitioned against the zoo there, too. A final blow was delivered in a written statement from park donor Thomas Detweiller, withdrawing his permission to locate the zoo there. Understanding the frustration the board must have felt, President Newman commented, "That doesn't fit in very well with our plans."
The issue was not allowed to die. The South Side Business Club, an organization of business operating in the southern part of the city, adopted the cause. Offering assistance in financing the project and in acquiring land, the association presented a confident plan. City owned property, bordering Trewyn Park to the south and west, would be donated to the Park District for zoo development in conjunction with the park land, but not on it. The promise of animals, such as elk, bison and antelope were made by Senator Dirksen from government reserves, for the cost of transportation.
Once again, the people objected to construction of a zoo near their homes of businesses.
The fear of odors from the animals was the greatest objection. Though many could be found to sign petitions in supports of a zoo for Peoria, few were willing to have it in their neighborhood.
In the midst of the public discussion of the issue, a small zoo, consisting of South American and rhesus monkeys, was opened to much enthusiasm in the basement of the Glen Oak Park pavilion in 1936 by Howard Fuller, a writer for the Peoria Star and leading zoo supporter. The bandshell near the Glen Oak pavilion, no longer used by concerts, was converted for the monkeys and birds in 1937. It drew such large crowds, the band decided to resume performances there the next year. A new outdoor cage for the monkeys was constructed and a wing of the old service building, now the Bio Center, was cleared of odds and ends stored there to make room for winter quarter cages.
The small collection of animals, particularly the monkeys, continued to draw large crowds. Bird cages for the growing aviary were constructed on the island in the Glen Oak Lagoon, now the site of the amphitheater. Known originally as Rose Island for its landscaped gardens, it became Bird Island after its new residents.
New animals added size and diversity to the collection. Ocelots and tropical animals gave a taste of the exotic to a collection including opossums, ground hogs, brightly plumed birds and birds of prey. Bears were an attraction of another sort. A WPA project to build a bear pit was begun just before World War II and though interrupted, reached a stage of completion sufficient to Himalayan bears to it. Its ten foot wide moat provided visitors a view unobstructed by bars. When the bears were disposed of (HUH?), the area housed ponies for children's rides, and was eventually removed.
A part of the monkey cage in the winter quarters was partitioned to provide space for a new acquisition. The lions, a make and a female, took up residence in the late 1940's producing a number of cubs to delight visitors over the years.
The Park District's animial collection, ranging from common domesticated and native wild animals to exotic species, formed the basis of a respectable zoo, but the exhibited animals were spread over several parks. The desire for a formal zoo was voiced again in the prosperity of the early fifties.
...my wife wants to watch a movie, so to be continued...
