New Parking Lot Underway at Reid Park

Posted March 7, 2023 by Reid Park Zoo & filed under In the News.

New Parking Lot Underway at Reid Park First Step in Construction Process for Zoo Pathway to Asia Project

Fencing is going up and construction is beginning on a new parking lot for Gene C. Reid Park, the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center (ARC) and Reid Park Zoo. The new parking lot will be located where the maintenance yard for Tucson Parks and Recreation has been and is anticipated to be complete in Fall 2023. The new lot uses no green space in the park and will increase the number of parking spaces available while approximately 95 trees will be planted as part of the project.

For those coming to Reid Park, access to travel through Lakeshore Lane will continue to be available throughout construction. Some parking spaces along Lakeshore Lane in the park will be temporarily unavailable but will return to use when the new lot is finished. Tucson Parks and Recreation, Reid Park Zoo, University of Arizona Baseball, and the Adaptive Recreation Center representatives have been meeting to ensure access is available to each facility throughout construction and to minimize impact on guests visiting the park and its facilities.

This diagram shows the temporary changes to parking for the Adaptive Recreation Center. During construction, additional accessible parking spaces will be marked in the current ARC parking lot. After construction, ARC users will have the new parking lot available including the circular drive for accessible parking.

The new parking lot is the first step in preparing for the Pathway to Asia project at the Zoo, which will add 3.5 acres to the Zoo’s campus, while bringing a variety of new animal species to the Zoo, including Komodo dragons, red pandas, and a large space for conservation and breeding of highly endangered Malayan tigers. Following an in-depth community dialogue, a new location was approved using the current Zoo and ARC parking lots. This solution repurposes existing asphalt areas and increases green space, providing a compact footprint for Zoo guests and easy access to the Zoo’s health clinic and animal commissary.

For information on Pathway to Asia contact Reid Park Zoo at 520-837-8178 or chelo.grubb@reidparkzoo.org.