Were you a big fan of the NC Zoo’s Forest Aviary? We’d like to hear about it.
Graphic artists at the N.C. Zoo already have wiped the soon-to-be-demolished Forest Aviary off the park’s map, but memories of that magical plant-and-animal habitat apparently will live in visitors’ memories forever.
Since it opened in 1982, millions of people have enjoyed aviary adventures. With its climate-controlled high humidity, glass walls, translucent domed roof and a population of more than 3,000 tropical plants and 100 birds, walking into the building was like visiting a rainforest in the Congo River basin at avian happy hour.
The birds weren’t the only thing soaring through that two-story space; imaginations took flight, too.
As soon as the zoo announced last week that the aviary would be permanently closed because of deterioration undermining its safety, park patrons began to mourn its pending demise. Many said the habitat, located near the Junction Tram Stop in the Africa section of the zoo, was the first place they headed after coming through the gate.
A recent inspection of the building suggested it was too far gone to repair, and that the site itself has suffered so much erosion that it’s not stable enough to support a new building. The state has not decided whether it will replace the aviary on a different site within the zoo.
Whether you visited the aviary several times a year on an annual pass, getting on a first-name basis with the rosy-bill porchard and the eclectus parrot, or you last visited with your 7th-grade science class in 2002, we’d like to hear your recollections. We might publish them in a story later.
Please send an email describing a memorable trip through the aviary to mquillin@newsobserver.com, and include a photo if you have one.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 9:00 AM.
