The replacement of the Children’s Zoo was the first step in the renewal of the long-neglected Franklin Park Zoo. The Boston Zoological Society hired DHK to design a new facility on the site of the original Children’s Zoo that was razed in 1979.The zoo complex covers over three acres and includes an entrance building with ticket sales, food concession and souvenir shop. The main building houses small animal exhibits and administrative space and a pavilion-like “contact” area where children can get close to large animals. The zoo also features a New England farm, outdoor theater, numerous outdoor small animal exhibits, and a wetlands exhibit in the center of the zoo. Described as “imaginative” and “well laid out,” the new Children’s Zoo has been a success since it opened on July 4, 1984.