Interview 4487 – Caption Index: 234
Did you know what his direction was, or did he tell you?… Read More
Did you know what his direction was, or did he tell you?… Read More
The director’s wishes for the collection, were largely predetermined by the facilities that we built. So that, for instance, when we redid the large mammal area, we knew we were going to have a giraffe, an elephant and hippo and rhino and taper. And we built the spaces so that… Read More
We didn’t do anything to antagonize the union. What we tried to do was accommodate the union’s needs or demands or suggestions before they were even suggested in terms of the caregiver staff. And by and large, this was handled above me in whatever political arena there was. We tried… Read More
Within the collection, how much latitude did you have in altering or changing the collection?… Read More
For example, I’ll use you as an example. Read More
It must’ve been very heavy times doing all this improvement where other zoos didn’t even come close to what you were now being involved with from the time you were curator to this, was there a template of how you went about putting all of this together as these projects… Read More
I don’t think we, I don’t think there was a template. I don’t believe there was a template in place for capital improvements. I think what happened is just simply evolved. So that park district architects, park district public relations people, contractors, general contractors, project managers, we kind of felt… Read More
we’re gonna be doing this. It’s interesting, I think for me, no single project stands out as the project I wanted to put my thumb print on or to put my fingerprint on. I was more interested in updating, modernizing facilities, modernizing the holding the exhibit and the holding space… Read More
We’re gonna have the same ones, different ones. Read More
And what are the implications for the zoo?… Read More
In terms of budget, Les would come back from the park district and would say, okay, this year, the park district has said that we need to have our budget cut by 10% or by 15% or 18%, whatever it was. And that the categories are essentially the same. Take… Read More
How should we do it?… Read More
What kind of exhibits are we going to have?… Read More
What kind of species are we going to show?… Read More
There was essentially, for capital improvements, there essentially was a master plan in place. And that was to the best of our ability and financial responsibility and with the resources we had was to improve how the living conditions for the animals of the facilities and the interpretation of the… Read More
That pretty much was, you know, there was, there wasn’t a formal master plan on paper, but they were pretty much was what should the next project be?… Read More
What areas should we do next?… Read More
Was it at the level of use in the executive director, or was it things that you were told to do and you interacted with the zoo society?… Read More
I was in my interactions with the zoo society, I was pretty much guided on where I was to go, not so much what I was to do, but what the boundaries were, what the limits were, who I was to help and how I was to help them in… Read More
Now as assistant director, did your role change in your participation in the budget process and setting priorities or in identifying new capital issues?… Read More