First there were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Great Pyramid at Giza. Now there’s … Brookfield Zoo?
The zoo has a chance to become one of the “Seven Wonders of Illinois” in a competition run by the State Bureau of Tourism. It is one of four remaining contenders in the Chicagoland region.
You can vote for the zoo, and your other favorite Illinois destinations, at www.enjoyillinois.com/sevenwonders/. Voting began March 5, and will continue until the end of March. Each week the field will grow narrower until only seven Illinois sites remain. Illinois was split into seven regions for the competition, each of which will produce a winner. The final winners will be announced April 30.
The other four finalists in the Chicagoland area include the Baha’I Temple in Wilmette, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park and the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
Stuart Strahl, president and CEO of the Chicago Zoological Society, which runs Brookfield Zoo, said he is happy about the honor.
“I’m really proud,” he said. “I’m thrilled to be one of the finalists.”
Strahl said that people should vote for the zoo because it is “an affordable, family-friendly and exciting place to be that provides great customer service and has always been at the cutting edge of wildlife education and conservation.”
There are a number of intriguing changes taking place at the zoo, he added.
“This summer we’re going to have an exciting touch tank for rays,” he said. “They’re a species of stingrays but they don’t have stingers. We’re going to have a baby polar bear coming out in the next month. We have a naming contest that we’re going to unveil for that little guy.”
And in the long term, he said, there is a new eight-acre exhibit for bald eagles, bears, bison and wolves in its planning stages for the North American area. That exhibit will be opening in about two years.