6800 Zoo Dr
Kansas City, MO 64132
To whom it may concern,
I hope that this letter finds you well. My Name is Todd LaSala, and I am the Chairman of the Board of Directors
for the Kansas City Zoo. We are reaching out to you today to ask for your assistance in an expansion project at the Zoo.
As you may or may not know, the zoo sits within Swope Park in East Kansas City. The roughly 1,800 acres of the park
were donated to the city, and many public features have been installed for community benefit. As a part of an effort to
conserve endangered species, we are searching for plans to utilize an unused portion of the park to construct a complex
to house, care for, and rehabilitate high-profile and highly important species to global ecosystems.
How can you, as engineers, design a park expansion for endangered organisms such that we can meet the organisms
needs, care for their health, assist in their repopulation, and educate the public about the need for their
conservation?
The following constraints have to be met in order to move designs forward to the Board of Directors and the
City Council to choose the project to be funded.
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The organisms we are caring for must be endangered and serve a critical role to their ecosystem.
They must have a constructed environment that fits their natural habitat
There must be a care plan for how the organisms are managed and cared for by zoo staff
There must be plan for how animal offspring can reintroduced into the wild to rebuild the population.
The expansion must connect to the current zoo layout and have areas for the public to observe the
species.
The areas must include an educational component to share the importance of the species, their role in
an ecosystem, and why they are endangered.
We will be selecting plans that are visually appealing and have the greatest impact on saving organisms and
ecosystems. Engineers will present their plan in a formal presentation. Presentations must cover all constraints listed
and contain blueprints and 3D renderings of designs. The date of presentations will be October 23rd and 24th in your
classes. We are excited to see what plans you have in store.
Sincerely,
Todd LaSala
Chairman, KC Zoo Board of Directors