Toronto Zoo Kicks Off Construction of New Conservation Centre

The Toronto Zoo and PCL recently hosted an event to officially launch the construction of the Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre. The new facility aims to bring a new, exciting educational arrival experience to guests, and will also be a space accessible to the local community, where people can gather and connect with nature and each other.

As the new home to the zoo’s endangered turtle conservation breeding center, TZC3 represents an exciting next phase for conservation science onsite. This space will be a prominent and visually stunning statement of the zoo’s commitment to the community, with multiple labs and classrooms used by students from U of T Scarborough, as well as Toronto Zoo camps, Zoo School and education programs.

The facility will be the first zoo in Canada to establish such a collaboration, wherein a leading university has a physical campus located onsite. When the classrooms are not being used for educational purposes, they will serve as outreach spaces that the broader community can enjoy for meetings, gatherings, events, townhalls and programs. Building these unique education spaces outside the admission gates where they’re accessible seven days a week, in the evenings and outside zoo hours, is an important aspect of the project.

This new Community Conservation Centre is being constructed by PCL Construction and is being built to Toronto Green Standard Version 4. This is in keeping with the zoo’s TZNet0 Environmental Sustainability Plan to meet the goal of net zero by 2030. It will also contain a Blanding’s turtle head-starting facility, an event space, gift shop, offices and a river otter habitat that will delight and educate guests about Canadian species.

Photos courtesy of Toronto Zoo