Two Major Attractions Plan to Merge
The Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History and the Butterfly House & Aquarium plan to become one organization and build a new butterfly conservatory and aquarium on the zoo’s campus.
“This is a very exciting day for us,” said Becky Dewitz, the zoo’s president and CEO.
“You’ll have a regional destination here in Sioux Falls where you can come to one place and visit the zoo animals, the aquarium and the butterfly conservatory whether it’s wintertime or summertime.”
The zoo, which encompasses 45 acres, has a significant amount of undeveloped land, Dewitz said. The organization is working with the city on a master plan for land before determining where the new facility will be located.
That will included an aquarium three times bigger than what could have been accommodated at Sertoma Park, with potential exhibits such as a shark reef with a tunnel for visitors underneath.