Interview 13894 – Caption Index: 146
With the?… Read More
With the?… Read More
(George chuckles) My management style was to keep my hands off as much as possible, but shout when necessary in terms of when I felt programs and strategies, et cetera, were off the mark. And so I uttered a few curse words in my time, but mainly it was to… Read More
What was your relationship with the Zoo Society?… Read More
What was your management style?… Read More
And so it was very important to have good relations, personal relations with the superintendents. And we had long-standing good relations with people like Arthur Janura, who was so long superintendent during my time. Read More
How would you describe yourself as director?… Read More
So the aim in terms of opening for the major world exhibition in ’33, ’34, was only the end of ’34 that, the end of that time that Brookfield opened. But in terms of what I’ve witnessed and encountered in general, there’s been substantial support for the institution such that… Read More
And did politicians play a role?… Read More
(George chuckles) You bring up an interesting aspect of the institutional setting of Brookfield It is, in effect, a governmental institution, in that it is part of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County where the Forest Preserve District of Cook County is really an extraordinary development in terms of… Read More
What was the relationship, how did politics of the county affect, or not affect the operation of the zoo?… Read More
You talked about resources. Brookfield sits on county land. Read More
So that was an adventure sometime. And I might mention in that respect much earlier, I’d been involved with a fire at the original Seven Seas Panorama. It was considered that the building was fireproof, but a little fan, a little electric fan ignited the surrounding packing material on the… Read More
But in terms of major improvements for many of the ungulates, time and money simply were not there. That was a frustration, because we did have a plan. And other things that didn’t come to be. We planned what might’ve been the first substantial lead building in the Chicago region… Read More
Oh, there were some frustrating times. There were also some (chuckles) adventurous times. In that last year of Crowcroft’s directorship, he was away when our polar bears swam out of their outdoor exhibits. And that was certainly an adventurous day in which I commandeered a rifle, among other things. And… Read More
Well, among other things that affected my administration of affairs at Brookfield, one of the obvious ones was the Endangered Species Act, which prior to the 1970s, that didn’t exist. I mean, those restrictions were very sporadic, as I say, in terms of the okapi, Ringling Brothers was prohibited from… Read More
Were there frustrating times at the zoo for you?… Read More
Well, when you speak about your tenure at the zoo, what major events affected zoos in general and specifically Brookfield Zoo during your tenure?… Read More
In terms of making changes to visitor services, it was evident that there needed to be great improvements and the zoo had one major food service facility in a prime position at the end of the East Mall. It was called the Refectory. And the Refectory had some wonderful painted… Read More
So it was pretty primitive and was until Crowcroft’s day and his facilitation of the improvement of such facilities that any change took place on that front. Partly, that was, again, facilitated by volunteers and Edie Duckworth, trustee, helped in that respect with a gift shop, so it was basically… Read More
And then what did you think about making changes when you now had the opportunity?… Read More