Construction underway at Memphis Zoo on new hippo home

The hippos, crocodiles and flamingos of the Memphis Zoo are getting new digs.

Work is underway on the Zambezi River Hippo Camp, the zoo’s latest capital improvement project.

Zellner Construction Services LLC is the general contractor. Project Manager Carey Ward said the camp is “going back to the roots of Africa as much as possible.”

Buildings will feature thatched roofs, and several will be adorned with custom African tribal artwork. Plans call for custom-installed heavy timbers and eucalyptus fencing. A two-story, 76-foot round building with a thatched roof will serve as Zambezi Camp’s main entrance.

“There are a lot of cool, themed things going into the project,” Ward said.

The exhibit gives a new home to animals found near Africa’s Zambezi River, including the hippos, Nile crocodiles, okapi, mandrills and flamingos. It is located adjacent to the existing Primate Pavilion and the African Veldt’s south entrance.
Zellner broke ground on the camp in June and expects to complete the job in spring 2016.

Multiple underwater viewing areas are planned within the camp, specifically for the hippos, crocodiles and sea turtles. Ward said those components of the exhibit contain technical life-support systems that purify and clean the water.

He admits it’s complicated work, but fortunately Zellner has some experience: the local contractor built the Northwest Passage–which features similar underwater viewing attractions–for the Memphis Zoo in 2005.

“We have a good relationship with the zoo, which we continue to build on,” Ward said.

So far, the “Flamingo Flats” and mandrill buildings are the only two out of the ground, but work will pick up once the life-support systems are back-filled.

Zellner will stay local with its employees, bringing on all the carpenters, laborers and concrete finishers it needs from the existing Memphis workforce.

It’s a strategy the general contractor employs in all of its projects. Ward said the company doesn’t bid on work outside of a 150-mile radius from its Memphis home base.

“The good thing is it allows us to keep mainly locals working for us so they can get home to their families every night.”

By Jane A. Donahoe