Santa Fe College’s Teaching Zoo is about to get bigger — and wilder.
In 2026, construction will begin on an elevated treehouse for visitor immersion at the zoo. Santa Fe announced the project on Oct. 3.
The teaching zoo’s director, Jonathan Miot, said the treehouse is the first step of a 15-year master plan to renovate the zoo. The expansion’s goal is for people of all ages — but mainly children — to explore the “hidden lives” of animals, he added.
Funded by a Rotary Club of Gainesville Foundation grant, the treehouse will be the zoo’s largest project in recent decades, Miot said. The last expansive project took place over the span of the late 1990s when an office building, quarantine and medical building, classrooms and a herpetarium for snakes and lizards were constructed.
The next steps of the master plan will be funded by future donors and other financial sources, he said.
“There’s a lot here to be excited about, and I can’t wait to see it unfold in the next bunch of years,” Miot said.
The new treehouse system will span from the zoo’s front entrance to its midpoint, with an aerial view of the eagle, gibbon and caracal habitats. Guests will be able to walk above the animal enclosures to view the critters from a new perspective, Miot said.
The treehouse will have accessibility features, like a ramp, so visitors with mobility challenges can participate, he said. The project aims to engage the Gainesville community and stimulate children’s curiosity, Miot said.
The teaching zoo is partnering with Tree Top Builders, a Pennsylvania-based construction company that specializes in treehouse development, to take on the project. The expansion’s design, capacity and a timeline are still in the works, Miot said, but he hopes the construction will begin in summer 2026.
The Rotary Club of Gainesville Foundation gifted the $300,000 grant to the zoo as part of its 41st annual Wild Game Feast, where the club funds select community projects.
The Rotary Club has a long-standing partnership with the teaching zoo, said Guy Jopling, this year’s feast master. The rotational role is assigned to a new person every year and entails leading event communications.
The treehouse system will incorporate environmental awareness, education and student engagement, Jopling said, which made the project stand out against others the Rotary Club could have funded.
“It was a project that we really could get behind,” Jopling said. “It checked so many of the boxes that we like to see in the projects that we get to fund.”
In the past, the Rotary Club has partnered with the teaching zoo to create the Rotary Reading Safari, where the club provides educational books for children to learn about animal conservation.
Jade Woodling, the education and conservation curator at the teaching zoo, is involved in designing the layout of the treehouse. She worked with Miot over the last few years to develop ideas for an interactive discovery space, she said.
“A lot of the activities I’ve been tasked to think about is how to build empathy and caring for animals,” Woodling said.
The teaching zoo currently has a playground for children, Woodling said, but its design is simple. The playground has slides and a climbing space, but she said it’s due for a makeover.
She hopes to renovate the play space after the treehouse is built, she said. Woodling and Miot have discussed expanding the play space for the past decade, she said, but they focused on the idea of a treehouse system within the last five years.
While the treehouse’s details are still being finalized, animal decor and fun facts are likely to be scattered through the treehouse, she said.
Woodling hopes the treehouse will enable kids to have fun and play, she said, as playing is another key element in development in children. Playing enables creativity and imagination, leading children to think critically. And, she said their close encounters with animals will promote empathy toward animal care and experiences.
“I’m excited to see kids be curious, to play and to open up their minds to want to ask more questions and learn more,” Woodling said.
Contact Leona Masangkay at lmasangkay@alligator.org. Follow them on X @leo_amasangkay.
Leona is a second-year journalism student and the Fall 2025 Santa Fe College reporter. They previously worked on the audience and growth team over the summer as a social media strategist. In their free time, Leona enjoys going to the gym, listening to music and watching Marvel movies.
