Wildly successful installation at Central Park Zoo

A tent installation in New York City’s Central Park Zoo was so well received that the client decided to keep it up.

To say that organizers of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s 2009 Central Park Zoo gala were happy with the work of Stamford Tent & Event Services is an understatement.

Steve Frost, president of the Stamford, Conn.-based company, says the structure helped create new excitement for the historic New York City zoo and bring in revenue for the zoo in a down economy.

“They were so pleased that they elected to keep the tent up for the entire season in order to bring in more corporate special events,” Frost says

The zoo consists of three different regions—Tropic, Temperate and Polar—arranged around the Central Garden. The project involved designing one main tent to be installed in the Temperate Garden, with two dormers leading up to the colonnade and down to the Central Garden.

“The existing colonnade is a glass structure, so the client requested that all tents be made of clear vinyl to appear as if they were a permanent part of the zoo,” Frost says.

Stamford installed a customized 30-by-178-foot gable-ended Anchor Navi-Trac® structure with two integral dormer extensions and two custom trapezoidal connectors leading to two additional 24-by-120-foot clear top frame tents.

“Creating the integral dormers and trapezoidal connectors was an interesting challenge,” Frost says. “We have gotten very positive feedback from other prospective clients that would like us to design something similar for them.”

One of the dormer extensions used to cover the dance floor projected out over a set of stairs leading down to the Central Garden, Frost explains.

“We had to erect a platform over the stairs and build custom steps so that guests could enter the tent from that area,” he says.

Additionally, work had to be done after zoo hours over the course of two nights. Vendor partners included Preston Bailey Designs, CAT Entertainment Services and Frost Lighting.

“We continue to work with this client and are in the process of designing custom structures for their other venues,” Frost says.