Twenty Years of Conservation
Improvements through CAP
Oklahoma City Zoo | CAP Year: 2005 |
The Oklahoma City Zoo opened in 1904. Over 2,000 animals are spread among the Zoo’s 110 beautifully landscaped acres, including 54 endangered species. In 2004, the Zoo discussed rehabilitating their 1935 WPA building (originally constructed as a bathhouse) to house a future zoo history museum. Senior Naturalist Instructor Amy Stephens began gathering historical items from around the zoo to begin a museum collection. Prior to this, no thought had been given to conserving a non-living collection. "I found wonderful items that reflect our rich history stuffed in drawers and hanging on walls," Stephens said. "Now, the staff are starting to bring important items to me for cataloging and storage." The non-living collection and WPA building were assessed for their 2005 CAP. Stephens incorporated collections assessor JoAnne Martinez-Kilgore’s recommendations into her own job description, thus becoming the Zoo’s historian.
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WPA Building Interior Before | WPA Building Interior After |
Historic structure assessor Richard Wright’s report helped to convince the Zoo’s board to save the 1935 WPA building. Construction is underway and will be finished within the next two years. When completed, the structure will house the Zoo’s new museum and archive for non-living collections items. In the meantime, Stephens has begun the process of cataloging and digitizing the Zoo’s entire slide collection. She has recruited additional staff members and volunteers to data-enter the catalog records into Past Perfect. While no non-living collections items were cataloged before the Zoo’s CAP, they now have 5,000 non-living items cataloged.
Stephens confirmed that collections projects for the non-living items are now a part of the Zoo’s long-range plan. Projects currently underway include the purchase of new display cases and storage shelves for the new museum/archive building. These purchases will be funded by a combination of operational funds, donations, and grants.
The Zoo has already been successful in obtaining two grants from the Oklahoma Historical Records Advisory Board: the "Models of Archival Management" grant for developing policies for the archives, and the "Threats to Your Collection" grant, to fund the digitizing and cataloging of the Zoo’s slide collection. Winning and implementing the Archival Management grant in particular was a great help to the Zoo in its application for AAM accreditation.
Stephens says of the CAP report, "Don’t bury it in a bookshelf! Take it to your board members to illustrate to them the possibilities for your museum that can be achieved through the fulfillment of the CAP recommendations." By continuing to display the dedication to collections care that they have shown, the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden will achieve successes in collections management for many years to come.
Thanks to Amy Stephens for her help with this article.
Photos Courtesy of The Oklahoma City Zoo
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