Comments on: Zoo at Fort Mac?

By: Henry

Henry — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 18:19:02 +0000

While I will admit that moving the zoo might make sense on a practical level given that the zoo does seem rather “shoe-horned” into its present location, I am not sure that there is any real ground swell of effort to actually move the zoo. Also, the zoo and cyclorama are historically linked as one previous blogger stated previously.

Moving the cyclorama, however, is the stupidest damned idea I have heard in a long time. The cyclorama is in an 84 year old building that has been modernized so that it is, in effect, a new building (seen it lately? check it out). It fits within its locational context (Grant Park contains Atlanta’s last Civil War earthern fort, if the city of Atlanta would bother to maintain it).

As I have said before:Atlanta needs to get away from this ridulous shit of moving, re-naming and tearing down its history. Is it too damn much to ask for this city and its powers-that-be to use a little creativity in that regard?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 19:06:20 +0000

This would be a great match, to have more than just tourist attractions at the Fort Mac site, as it is served by two (count ‘em, TWO!) MARTA stations.

Tourism, retail, office, residential… Live, work, shop, play.

More tourist destinations along MARTA lines: good.
More housing along MARTA lines: good.
More office space along MARTA lines: good.
Retail becomes a natural fit: good.

Now if elephants and tigers can fit on the busses and trains, then transporting the animals to their new home would be a piece of cake.

By: Eric T

Eric T — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:08:28 +0000

The Zoo and the Cyclorama should be kept together. Historically they are linked. The Cyclorama was initially a travelling exhibit that was accompanied by a circus. When the Cyclorama was purchased and permanently settled in Atlanta, the circus animals were the beginings of the Atlanta Zoo.

That said, they both would benefit from increased access and space. I would support moving BOTH to the Ft. McPherson site and enhanced with a larger Civil War/Battle of Atlanta Museum.

We’re always so busy rebuilding ourselves in Atlanta. We need to preserve some of our history.

By: Joseph G

Joseph G — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 05:07:14 +0000

I kind of like having the Cyclorama right across from the zoo and in Grant Park. The whole package has a kind of old-skool Victorian flavor.