Riverbanks Zoo and Garden: Forty Wild Years

Preface

| xi | Preface Three years ago Jonathan Haupt, then interim director and now director of the University of South Carolina Press, contacted Monique Jacobs, Riverbanks Zoo and Garden’s membership and communications manager, with an idea. Jonathan and his wife, Lorene, have been Riverbanks Society members since they first moved to South Carolina in 2004. They are also zoo buffs, having now visited dozens of zoos around the country. As a publisher Jonathan is also an avid book collector, and over the years has combined his two passions and collected a number of books chronicling the histories of various zoos. The purpose of his call was to ask if we would be interested in producing a coffee-table book as a potential fundraiser for the zoo’s upcoming fortieth anniversary. Our immediate response was: Why not? So here we are—three years, thousands of words, and hundreds of photographs later. A slight word of caution: this book is not meant to be an exact history of Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. Instead it is a mostly chronological collection—and in some cases recollection—of events, milestones, and personalities (both human and animal) that helped shape Columbia’s zoo into one of the best in the country. Some have said that it is impossible to separate my story from that of Riverbanks. To that I say, “Poppycock.” (Those who really know me know that I would likely say something far more colorful.) What is virtually impossible is to include by name the—literally—thousands of people who have directly contributed to the zoo’s success . In the early 1960s a group of local businessmen came together to discuss building a small zoo for Columbia’s children. This led to Zoo’s Who, a citywide, door-to-door fund drive involving hundreds of schoolaged volunteers. Next came the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and, in particular, two of its committees (both ably | xii | Preface chaired by the late Al Rose) that helped advance the zoo concept from dream to reality. The South Carolina General Assembly later created the Riverbanks Park Special Purpose District (as well as the Riverbanks Park Commission, whose first chairman was Don Barton). And, of course, there were many wonderfully supportive people who served on the Richland and Lexington County Legislative Delegation who bravely voted to fund the zoo’s initial construction. All of these people were critical to the zoo’s creation. There have been many, many more since then. Following a decade of political intrigue and planning, Riverbanks Zoo (later Riverbanks Zoo and Garden) opened to the public on April 25, 1974. By then I had been working at the nascent zoo for sixteen months, having started on January 3, 1973. I was just twenty-two years old and had been out of college for all of three weeks and, perhaps most interestingly, had never been to a zoo. Little did I realize that forty years later I would still be working at Riverbanks and become the longest-tenured zoo director in the United States. Looking back, one thing is certain. An incredibly talented team of people was needed to build the zoo. Not just the architects and contractors, but the original zoo staff. Like me, most were just out of college or had recently returned from Vietnam, and our ranks included artists, arborists, landscapers , and budding animal keepers. As opening day approached, this group of dedicated employees, led by director John Mehrtens , worked round the clock for days on end to ready the new zoo for its first guests. Following several years of growing pains, Riverbanks Zoo began to prosper. This required an entirely new skill set as marketers , educators, and human resource and horticulture professionals came on board. A volunteer program was established and has since grown to more than two hundred active and vital volunteers. The Riverbanks Society was created, and, in addition to a fiercely dedicated board of directors, thousands of people from throughout the Midlands joined its ranks. As Riverbanks Zoo and Garden grew in stature, so did the list of corporate sponsors. We are indeed grateful to the many businesses that have so generously supported our activities and physical growth. The ever-growing parade of faithful contributors has continued unabated for the past twenty-five or so years. Riverbanks is especially indebted to the past and current members of Lexington and Richland County Councils who have repeatedly demonstrated their support for Riverbanks by supplementing our operating budget and approving our [3.17.79...