Akron, OH - July 9, 2013 - On Saturday, July 20th the Mike and Mary Stark Grizzly Ridge Exhibit will celebrate its grand opening. This 3.5 acre exhibit will include animals historic to Ohio including bald eagles, grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes and otters.
Grizzly Ridge is named for two of the zoo’s biggest supporters, Stark & Knoll Co-Founding Partner, Mike Stark, and his wife Mary. Mike is a past Chairman of the Zoo’s board and has served on its board since 1994. President & CEO of the Zoo, L. Patricia Simmons commented, “At the Akron Zoo we are thrilled to present our community with the Mike and Mary Stark Grizzly Ridge exhibit. Our guests and friends have asked for more animals, especially ones that are historically native to Ohio. With Mike and Mary’s support we are able to bring in fascinating animals and exciting educational interactive experiences that relate to us today as well as our ancestors who lived here before us. This is our largest project in the Akron Zoo’s history and is not to be missed!”
This new state-of-the-art grizzly bear exhibit will allow guests to get a behind-the scenes view of how the bears are trained. It also includes underwater viewing areas and an enclosed slide running through the otter pool to allow children the chance to slide through with otters swimming around them. In addition, the exhibit features a walk-in aviary with birds native to Ohio.
We agree with Simmons when she states, “There are no two more deserving people to be recognized in our community than Mike and Mary Stark. Their collective impact on us all is monumental. Thanks to their overwhelming selflessness, many generations will now make memories to last a lifetime in the new Mike and Mary Stark Grizzly Ridge exhibit.”