Detroit Zoo’s massive penguin center reopens after two years

Royal Oak, Feb. 20 (U.S.): The massive Penguin Center at the Detroit Zoo has reopened to the public more than two years after it closed to fix waterproofing flaws.

For the first time since the 33,000-square-foot (3,065-square-meter) facility closed in September 2019, visitors were welcomed inside the Polk Penguin Conservation Center this week.

“The community has been waiting for this to come back for a long time,” said Hayley Murphy, director and executive director of the Detroit Zoological Society, during an interview at the center.

“We are so happy to welcome everyone. The penguins love it, the staff love it, and the volunteers,” she said, the Associated Press reported.

The PPCC, billed as the world’s largest penguin center, debuted in 2016 and quickly became a huge hit, with an underwater exhibit and two acrylic tunnels where visitors can watch four different species of penguin swim above and around them.

FA