BUFFALO NEWS (New York) 04 November 05 Reptile House sheds its outdated décor (Tom Buckham)
Time stood still at the Reptile House after Marlin Perkins' term as curator of the Buffalo Zoo from 1938 to 1944. Perkins moved on to Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and then, of course, to television stardom as host of "Zoo Parade" and later, "Wild Kingdom."
But for the most part, the displays he designed for snakes, lizards and other reptiles at the north end of the Depression-era Main Building remained just as they were when the facility opened 63 years ago. They easily outlasted Perkins, who died in 1986.
On Saturday, the Reptile House will reopen after a $60,000, six-month renovation that produced more naturalistic indoor exhibitions with larger trees, shrubs and grasses, improved lighting and new glass windows.
In terms of the zoo's continuing $70 million reconstruction, this re-do is a drop in the bucket - but an important one for the resident collection.
What finally moved the Reptile House to the top of the priority list?
"Lead paint problems," said zoo animal curator and herpetologist Kevin Murphy. "We had exhibits with 4 to 6 square feet of peeling paint in the corner.
The residue was not just an eyesore. The toxic chips were not particularly harmful for snakes or turtles, but they were for frogs and other amphibians, which tend to absorb toxins.
Such concerns have been eliminated, as have the pitted original glass panes and faded backdrop murals. New three-dimensional habitats blending photographic murals with realistic foregrounds were created by David Rock of Santa Fe, N.M., regarded as the best muralist in the zoo world.
The makeover allowed for the regrouping of some animals. One corner exhibit houses an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, a gopher tortoise and a tree lizard, which get along splendidly. Snake and tortoise even share a burrow at times.
Under an arrangement negotiated by former zoo President Donna M. Fernandes, the old paint was removed free of charge by Laborers Local 210, which used the project as lead abatement training for several union members.
Reptile House sheds its outdated décor