And, you know, when it came time to do the gorilla valley, about 23 years later, that individual came full circle and, and signed on for gorilla valley and then for the orangs and then for the elevator, and then for the second half of our conservation center to the… Read More
Sometimes it takes that kind of long range persistence. Sometimes with, as with say the aquarium, we were finishing up the, you know, we were finishing up the Lied Jungle and, you know, my board chairman said, well, we’d, we had built a small aquarium and he had helped with… Read More
And he said, well, you know, what would you, what do you think you’d like to do next?… Read More
And I said, well, I’d like to build a real honest to goodness aquarium now that we’ve done this, and we’ve got experience, and we’ve got a good aquarium staff, and I’d like to build a really honest to good, you know, honest, honest aquarium. (chuckling) And you know, that… Read More
Why don’t we do that?… Read More
Well, the idea, the idea has to come first. The vision has to come first. On the Lied Jungle, for instance, that that project got hatched. One of the things that you have to have is a long view, and you have to have a lot of persistence, a lot… Read More
And over dinner, and a couple of three bottles of wine. As it turns out, Ernie Lied had passed away. There was no money in that foundation, but there was going to be substantial money in that foundation. And Ernie’s, long-time lawyer said, you know, there is a single individual… Read More
We went down and saw, and look, went through Disney’s botanical operation in Orlando. And Terry took us around and very quietly behind the scene said, okay, now we don’t know, Disney does not know anything about Legionnaires’ disease, but if I were you and I were going to do… Read More
And so having somebody that will, you know, over a drink someplace say, you know, we don’t officially know anything about this, but is huge. Now, let me, we’re going to talk about some specific exhibits that you’ve done in Omaha. Read More
But as you’re having this vision, how are you starting to think about the fundraising?… Read More
What comes first?… Read More
And you know, the idea is that by the time they come through, they’ve got a different attitude on conservation and preserving the natural world and all of that, or they’ve just had a good time. And one of the things that we’ve always tried to do is to make… Read More
And, you know, and if you can scare them a couple of times along the way, why are really surprised them, then, then they remember, they remember the conservation message if you surprise them or scare them a little bit. And if they’ve had a good time. And, but the… Read More
There was not a low bid thing. It was a, if we were, everything was negotiated, it’s always been negotiated. So you get a much better price. Plus you can make changes. You know, we did the Lied Jungle, which the Lied Jungle in the education section and the restaurant… Read More
And the important thing is to look at what’s really good about this project in the Bronx or in the wherever, and what’s, what’s bad, you know, and particularly if you can go out to dinner someplace and have somebody say my gosh, you know, if we can only do… Read More
What were you thinking in that direction of what it was, what were you trying to convey and how did you come to that particular idea?… Read More
Well, I think in part, and for instance in the jungle, because of working with, you know, around the world and, you know, and as I think I said, you know, I’ve been lucky enough to, you know, working with Ulie Seale and CBS and GM and on our own,… Read More
The desert dome mostly came about because I grew up at the desert. (chuckling) And so I’d always wanted to do a desert, you know, except that, instead of, because we did in tropical rainforest, we did Asia and Africa and South America, the threes, you know, three zones. We… Read More
Let’s draw back a bit. Read More
You, I understand the concept of what you’re talking about, but how do you come up or how have you come up with the initial vision?… Read More