ROYAL OAK (WWJ) -- Back in 2019, the Polk Penguin Conservation Center at the Detroit Zoo closed its doors for repairs.
Nearly two years later, the popular exhibit remains shuttered, and there’s no timeframe for when it may re-open.
In a statement to the Detroit Free Press back in 2019, the Detroit Zoo said contractors were working on waterproofing repairs to the 33,000-square-foot building’s foundation, which were not done correctly the first time around.
“Unfortunately, the contractor failed to properly waterproof the foundation, was aware that groundwater was seeping into the building throughout construction, didn’t fix the program and failed to inform us,” Detroit Zoological Society executive director Ron Kagan said at the time.
Recently, a zoo spokesperson told the Free Press that the penguins in the center are continuing to receive the “same great care while their home is being repaired” and are “doing well," but gave no other information on the status of the exhibit, which was supposed to reopen in June 2020.
“Everyone is eager to reopen and revise this facility as soon as possible,” Rachelle Spence said.
First opening its doors in April 2016, the Polk Penguin Conservation Center -- which cost a cool $32 million to build -- features a 326,000-gallon, 25-foot-deep aquatic area, and houses dozens of chinstrap, gentoo, king, macaroni and rockhopper penguins.
The exhibit also boasts an underwater gallery with a large acrylic window and two acrylic tunnels that allow viewers to watch the penguins from below.
The Polk Penguin Conservation Center received the Exhibit Award from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) in 2017.
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