Masonry Magazine August 1985 Page. 23
Photography by Thomas Abel
Sea Lions Frolic In Realistic Surroundings of Stone Masonry
by GERALDINE KIEFER
Watching Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's eight playful pinnipeds-four California sea lion lions and four harbor seals-is a pleasant experience any day of the year. They toss fish into the air, climb out of their pool onto side ledges to observe their observers, and, for the moment satisfied, plop gracefully and easily into glistening clear water. Their environment, a little inland sea enclosed by rocky beaches and walls, was carefully designed both to feature their antics and to serve their needs, which are much more specialized than the casual visitor might at first imagine.
The zoo, part of the Cleveland Metroparks System, began planning for a new sea lion facility in 1979, particularly as federal regulations for captive marine mammals were mandated. Elaborate formulas based upon animal length were devised for computing the square footage of "dry resting area" (beach). The minimum surface area of the pool was to be two-thirds that of the beach. The pool's minimum horizontal dimension and depth were to be determined by formulas using maximum animal length. In short, a simple oval pool with a rock island was just not enough.
Geraldine Kiefer is a free-lance writer specializing in architectural topics. Her articles have appeared in several national publications.
Cleveland Metroparks hired Collins, Rimer and Gordon, a Cleveland-based architectural firm with extensive experience in medical facility design, a plus for specialized environments such as the one the sea lions would require, not only to check off the government's shopping list but also to create an exhibit that would be as natural and barrier-unintensive as possible.
Initial design meetings in the spring of 1981, chaired by Lou E. Tsipis, Metroparks executive director and secretary, laid out the general parameters: a $500,000 maximum budget, fast-track construction, yet "no preconceived ideas" to hamper innovative design. In subsequent meetings with zoo director Michael N. Vitantonio, Metroparks chief architect James J. Kozel, curator of education Richard D. Nemeth, and general curator Donald Kuenzer, an interconnecting two-pool, two-beach concept with a contiguous service building was worked out. "We added an isolation area because we thought it was necessary." Kuenzer said. It would serve as a pupping den and a holding area if, due to the introduction of new animals, fighting were to occur. But visual and underwater contact would be maintained.
The site for the new facility was a difficult one, a narrow strip on a bluff at the zoo's northern extremity, hemmed in by cliffs to the north and east, by an existing zoo road to the south, and by the polar bear exhibit to the east.