Print thisDetroit Zoological Society Jobs in and around Lansing, MI
Company:Detroit Zoological SocietyCurrent Opportunities (0) Company Website  Location(s):8450 W. 10 Mile RoadRoyal Oak, MI 48068 Map Location
Phone:(248) 541-5717 X 3742Industry:Non-ProfitSize:100-499 |
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Company OverviewThe Detroit Zoological Society is a non-profit organization that operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Zoo. Situated on 125 acres of naturalistic exhibits, the Detroit Zoo is located at the intersection of Ten Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, just off I-696, in Royal Oak.THE EARLY HISTORY Those who created the Society in 1911 included men from some of the city’s most respected families: Alger, Larned, Bagley, Joy, Chalmers, Denby, Ford. By 1912, the group was sufficiently organized and financed to hire Richard E. Follett, a zoologist and naturalist from New York City, as its secretary. He ran the day-to-day operations and would become a central figure in the Detroit Zoo’s development during the next 15 years. The early years were spent acquiring land. In 1914, 216 acres were purchased near the Rouge River, but were sold in 1915 to Ford Motor Company at a profit, becoming part of the huge Ford Rouge complex. Then 150 acres were bought near the Detroit Golf Club at Six Mile Road. That piece, too, was eventually sold profitably. Meanwhile, Society leaders tried unsuccessfully to get the City of Detroit to appropriate funds for the Zoo. In April 1916, the Society decided to go ahead on its own, purchasing 100 acres near Ten Mile Road, west of Woodward Avenue, in Royal Oak. Follett began developing this privately held park by transplanting trees and creating rough landscaping. He cut a service road through the property. And he started raising pheasants and other game birds there, forerunners of the thousands of animals that would eventually come to the Zoo grounds. All this work was paid for with funds loaned by individual Society members. Once the Woodward site was obtained, Follett hired a Boston landscape architect, Arthur A. Shurtleff, to begin creating a design for the park in 1916. His plans incorporated barless exhibits, lakes, the bird house and other features that were realized a dozen years later, even though others took over the final design. Society leaders, hoping to turn their park over to public ownership, tried to get Detroit to accept the site. However, the City charter prohibited acceptance, and pleas to the state legislature failed. The Society also suggested a "Tri-County Zoo" under the auspices of Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties. Although this idea was supported by the news media, Wayne County said no. The Society tried many approaches to giving the Zoo to a governmental entity, including a proposal to make it a state park. Finally, in March 1923, Detroit’s Common Council approved an advisory referendum to accept the gift and supported a five-year millage to finance the Zoo. Mayor James Couzens told newspapers that "a friend of his" would give the City 160 acres adjoining the property—ample land for a public golf course—if people would vote for acceptance. Still, some councilmen tried to force development of a zoo at Rouge Park, a location supported by real estate investors. Voters approved the Society’s gift of land and the millage to support it. Couzens’ anonymous friend, Horace Rackham, then fulfilled his promise, which resulted in the Rackham Golf Course abutting the Zoo. A year later, Detroiters voted to create a four-man Detroit Zoological Park Commission to operate and develop the site. The first Commission meeting was on October 1, 1924. At this point, the Detroit Zoological Park became a legal reality, and Society Secretary Follett was named its first director. |
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