1930 to 1939

1931: A letter to the editor of a Cleveland newspaper pointed a finger at “the world’s worst zoo”. There were 420 animals at the zoo, but 300 of them were domestics—ponies, ducks, geese, pigeons, rabbits, etc.

1934: The Cuyahoga County Relief Administration, as part of the Federal work relief program, devoted time and labor to the zoo. The first project was a “monkey island” based on similar exhibits in Chicago, Detroit, and Toledo. Using materials from the old Superior Viaduct and the Ajax Building in downtown Cleveland, Monkey Island rose up, like a phoenix from the ashes of the Great Depression, and was ready for occupancy.

1935: Monkey Island opened on Sunday, June 21. On August 11, the first Cleveland Zoological Society was formed.

1936:A children’s area was completed by the Works Progress Administration, but was severely damaged by vandals before it officially opened.

1937: 3,600 WPA laborers were sent to Brookside Park. With incomplete working plans, they worked on a project to remodel the zoo and lay out a large athletic center west of the zoo.

1938:The sea lion pool, started in 1936, was completed. It was learned that the cost of a sea lion was $340, but the cost of feeding it would be an additional $600 per year. Therefore, the purchase of sea lions was turned down, and the zoo had an empty $60,000 exhibit.

1939:Legislation was introduced in Cleveland City Council to abolish the zoo at Brookside Park. The formation of a Zoological Society was again proposed, this time by the Cleveland Federation of Women’s Clubs.