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Lincoln Park Zoo to Open New Penguin, Polar Bear Exhibits in 2016

By Paul Biasco | March 18, 2014 9:18am
 Penguins have not lived at the zoo since late 2011.
Penguins have not lived at the zoo since late 2011.
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Lincoln Park Zoo

LINCOLN PARK — Lincoln Park Zoo is set to unveil plans for state-of-the-art African penguin and polar bear habitats.

The $22 million capital improvement plan seeks to have the new exhibits complete by the spring or summer of 2016.

The zoo has been without penguins since the Kovler Penguin-Seabird House closed on Dec. 5, 2011, after 30 years.

The zoo is holding a community open house Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Laflin Administration building, 2001 N. Clark St., to show off the plans for the two new habitats.

The announcement of the new exhibits comes a few months before the zoo is scheduled to open a 2.2 acre Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, exhibit on the site of the former Kovler Penguin-Seabird House.

That exhibit is set to open in the fall and will become one of the zoo's major attractions when it does.

A revamped children's train is also scheduled to open this fall.