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The Detroit Zoo anticipates a big boost in attendance this year with the April 18 opening of the new Polk Penguin Conservation Center, the largest penguin facility in the world, the Royal Oak Tribune reports.
“Our annual attendance in 2015 was more than 1.4 million visitors,” Zoo spokesperson Patricia Janeway tells Mike McConnell of the Tribune. “We expect that number to increase by at least 200,000.”
The 33,000-square-foot conservatory cost about $30 million and has been under construction for more than a year, the paper writes.
The zoo posts this about the facility:
Among the most spectacular features of the 33,000-square-foot facility is a 326,000-gallon, 25-foot-deep aquatic area where visitors can watch as more than 80 penguins of four species explore their habitat. Two acrylic underwater tunnels provide breathtaking views as the birds swim and soar above and around visitors – and even below.
