The story
The zoo began in the 1930s as a small animal collection in Plant Park, on what is now the University of Tampa campus. In the 1950s council member Nick Nuccio pushed for a bigger one, and in 1957 it moved to land across from Lowry Park, where it opened as Tampa Fairyland Zoo. Concrete statues of fairy tales and nursery rhymes lined winding paths under oak trees, and a large rainbow bridge led from the entrance area to the zoo.
By the 1980s the enclosures were judged unhealthy, and the Humane Society called it one of the worst zoos in America. The original zoo closed on September 7, 1987, for a $20 million reconstruction that removed nearly every trace of the old place, Fairyland included. The first phase of the new zoo opened on March 5, 1988. The park was named for Sumter de Leon Lowry Sr., a city commissioner.
What's There Now
ZooTampa at Lowry Park occupies the site.
Everything that was here
- 1957–1987
Lowry Park Zoo and Tampa FairylandPark
A zoo ringed with concrete nursery-rhyme statues opened in 1957, then was rebuilt in 1988 with almost nothing of the old place left.
See the map in 1958 →
Did you know?
Nearby history
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Tampa Stadium (The Big Sombrero)
Mel's Hot Dogs
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J.C. Newman Cigar Company
Busch Gardens Tampa (original 1959 Bird Gardens)
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