City of St. Paul - Visitor Center and Education Resource Center Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
Work included remodeling and new construction at Como Park including the Education Resource Center, new location for the Conservatory Fern Room and rebuilding of restrooms. The Education Resource Center (ERC) is a new building which will house classrooms, a 180-seat auditorium, a "Tropical Encounters" exhibit that incorporates both plants and animals, and visitor amenities including bookstore/gift shop, restaurant space (indoor and outdoor) and restrooms.
The roof system is a combination of Curtainwall, skylights in a sheet metal roof, and built up asphalt roofing. Mechanically a new chiller and 2 new air handlers were installed. One of the AHU is for public space and the other is for the Animal holding areas. A cistern serves the underground for the storm water drainage system.
New electrical distribution and panel boards were provided. The existing emergency power generator was used for building emergency power and a small generator will be used for the fire pump. Conduit rough-in for telephone, fire alarm, data and security is included.
The steam line from the Main Zoo Building to the Primate building was also replaced.