\u201cWe were hearing from the community that it mattered,\u201d Sacramento Zoological Society Board President Elizabeth Stallard told The Bee after the diagrams were released. \u201cWe want to be good neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A diagram of the Sacramento Zoo in William Land Park shows the proposed northern and eastern expansion areas relative to the zoo\u2019s existing footprint. Sacramento Zoo What the zoo now seeks in Land Park<\/p>\n
The zoo, which is currently 14.3 acres and among the smallest Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited zoos in the United States, was previously seeking 5.8 acres of Land Park for the expansion.<\/p>\n
The proposal included 1.4 acres from the former pony ride area, which was dismantled by city workers in February, and 4.4 acres for the land that included the Swanston statue and the gardens. The new diagrams show that the zoo will instead ask for other land north of its entrance that runs along Land Park Drive and curves onto 15th Avenue.<\/p>\n
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A conceptual diagram of the northern expansion area for the Sacramento Zoo in William Land Park shows that the proposed boundary would now exclude the historic Swanston statue and its adjacent water features. The new zoo exhibits would include a tropical zone and an Australasia zone. Sacramento Zoo <\/p>\n
Stallard said that by doing this, the zoo will use about 0.2 acres less of the park in its expansion.<\/p>\n
Rick Stevenson, a Land Park volunteer who had spoken at the April council meeting and urged not destroying the statue, welcomed the news that it was no longer in the expansion area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s good for the zoo, it\u2019s good for the neighborhood, it\u2019s good for the park,\u201d Stevenson said.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SAC_0051_RCB_20260317_Swaston.jpg\" "\\"SAC_0051_RCB_20260317_Swaston.jpg\\"")
A statue of pioneer Charles Swanston stands in William Land Park in March. Its location is no longer within the Sacramento Zoo\u2019s proposed northern expansion area. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
Another person who was pleased with the news was the city\u2019s preservation director, Sean de Courcy, who said the statue was among Land Park\u2019s oldest features and that the adjacent landscaping had been designed with the view in mind that it provides.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that preserving that feature and the view shared will be is an important element of the park landscape,\u201d de Courcy said.<\/p>\n
He stopped short in his celebration, though, when asked if preserving the statue was a win for historic preservation. While de Courcy said he had young children who he took to the zoo, he admitted that even he didn\u2019t take advantage of the statue.<\/p>\n
\u201cA real win for preservation would be to get more people visiting it and more people aware of the statue itself,\u201d de Courcy said.<\/p>\n
When Swanston died of heart failure at 78 in 1911<\/a>, The Bee described him as being \u201cknown all the way from Mexico to Oregon and in Nevada a big cattle buyer and wholesale meat dealer.\u201d Swanston was born in Ireland, came to Sacramento in the 1870s and operated a meat business on what is now Riverside Boulevard.<\/p>\n The Swanston family ranch was located on part of the land upon which William Land Park would eventually be built, according to a history brochure for the park, and his son donated $10,000 in the 1920s for the memorial. The statue includes the inscription: \u201cTo the pioneers.\u201d A carving below the inscription shows two cattle, facing opposite directions.<\/p>\n What comes next for the zoo<\/p>\n When the city and zoo agreed to the MOU, it came with the understanding that the study and public engagement period would last for months.<\/p>\n The release of the diagrams is an early step in this process.<\/p>\n \u201cI think only our hope is that putting this out there in the community is kind of the opportunity \u2026 to visualize what an expansion in Land Park would look like and to allow the community to share our exciting vision for getting this done right,\u201d Stallard said. \u201cSo we\u2019re looking forward to talking about these design drawings with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Sacramento Zoo CEO Dan Simon called the release of the diagrams on Thursday \u201cjust the next step in having this input period from the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Simon noted that a webpage the zoo has set up about the expansion<\/a> allows the public to offer feedback. \u201cWe\u2019re just kind of kicking off the public input portion of this,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n The zoo is planning to hold a series of public events in the months to come related to the expansion, with an open house scheduled for June 17.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people want to learn more, we want to give people the chance to do that and engage with us,\u201d Stallard said.<\/p>\n This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 11:48 AM.<\/p>\n
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