WEST ROGERS PARK — A new park area that officials likened to an "outside conservancy" within the former Indian Boundary Park zoo grounds took shape this week as work continues on the project.
In the northwest section of the park, gone are the few goats, chickens and ducks that once occupied the space.
"It’s really beginning to look wonderful," said Jane Pranga, president of the Indian Boundary Park advisory council.
Now, native plants and meandering concrete pathways have replaced the animal pens. The zoo's old swan huts have been partially transformed into toy houses for children to play inside.
The old aviary has been transformed into an enclosed pavilion, its fencing wrapped in ivy vines.
The former zoo building, when finished, would have new flooring, exposed brick walls, an insulated roof covered with beadboard paneling and a glass garage-style door that opens into the new park, according to plans.
Robert Rejman, the Park District's director of planning and construction, had said the new area of the park would be akin to an "outdoor conservancy."
Pranga said the advisory council had also circulated an online survey to collect suggestions for programming and events park-wide.
"We want to know who our patrons are and what their desires are," she said.
The survey can be taken here.
The zoo, which opened in the 1920s, was closed last August by the Park District after it fell into disrepair.
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