Waldron Construction

Racine Zoo, Racine County, WI

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Racine Zoo

The Racine Zoological Gardens, often known as the Racine Zoo, is a zoo in Racine, Wisconsin, that is located on 28 acres (11 ha) on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Racine Zoological Society, a non-profit organization, runs the zoo. The zoo’s collection concentrates on species local to Wisconsin, including a building dedicated to reptiles and amphibians native to the state, with over 100 species.

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Waldron Construction, Kitchen & Bath is owned and operated by Joe and Tasha Waldron. Waldron Construction has Over 75+ Years Combined Staff Experience and a large knowledge base related to building and remodeling homes as well as overseeing commercial projects. We recognize that our largest asset is our team. 

Joe and Tasha
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889 Main Street Antioch, Il 60002

Jacob Stoffel, Jr., a local businessman, founded the Racine Zoo on March 1, 1923. The city of Racine was inspired by his donation of three monkeys to create a small zoo in Island Park. The zoo had deer, badgers, grey foxes, and Rocky Mountain goats by the end of the year. The zoo’s new home at Goold Street and North Main Street, which it outgrew, opened in 1925. Lakeview Park, a former brickyard, had previously occupied the space.

In its new home, the Racine Zoo developed swiftly. It included exhibits with sea lions, hoofed animals, and bears between 1925 and 1929. An abandoned clay quarry was flooded to create a duck pond.

The zoo’s cheap entry allowed it to thrive during the Great Depression when others were forced to close. The Vanishing Kingdom, a castle-like structure that shelters big cats and primates, was completed in 1939. The former county jail bricks were used to construct it. Mary Heibner, a ten-year-old girl from Waukegan, Illinois, was mauled by a bear at the zoo on May 23, 1958. She was on the verge of losing her right arm and needed plastic surgery.

Due to overpopulation, the Como Park Zoo evacuated a two-year-old Siberian tiger to Racine in November 1959. The tiger, called Kahn, was purchased by the Racine Zoo the next year.

In 1987, the Australian subsidiary of Racine-based S.C. Johnson & Son donated six kangaroos and six wallaroos to the zoo. Rawdon Dalrymple, the Australian ambassador, was present at the event.

The Racine Zoo was acclaimed and condemned in the early 1990s for its “traditional” method of keeping animals in small barred cages where zoo visitors could get abnormally near them. In 1992, the city of Racine financed nearly half of the zoo’s $3 million rehabilitation project, which replaced habitats that were mainly untouched since the zoo’s original construction in the 1930s. If you are in Racine, you can’t ignore visiting the Racine Zoo.

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Testimonials From Our Satisfied Customers

Amy Duhig Founder & CEO of XpeedStudio

We started off not knowing what we wanted, but knew we needed a new kitchen and flooring for most of our first floor, which was overwhelming to us. We worked with Liz to help us design what we wanted. She was fabulous and patient with us. Timelines were met and the crew who worked with us ended up feeling like part of the family. When faced with some pretty big “snags,” which were of no fault of Waldron Construction, Joe was professional, pushed to make things right, and kept his word; The team went above and beyond and did excellent work.

Nancy Leah Founder & CEO of XpeedStudio

Such a great team of professionals. We had our kitchen remodeled and Waldron Construction was very helpful and thorough. A little future advice for anyone considering a major remodel is to expect delays and the need to make changes due to supply availability or unforeseen issues. Joe Waldron treats you with great respect and is very driven to make sure you are very satisfied and happy with your remodel. Some may feel the expense is too high…but you do get what you pay for. Thank you for a very beautiful kitchen, Nancy and Gary

Joan Peart Founder & CEO of XpeedStudio

We just completed our dream kitchen remodel with Waldron Construction. We are extremely pleased with the results. Angie helped us through the design and was always a text/phone call away. The trades were excellent and were great to work with. Of course there were hiccups in the process but nothing that couldn’t be worked out. Having the schedule in front of us daily through builder trend was great too. Joe was very responsive whenever we had questions or concerns. We would recommend Waldron for your next home improvement project..

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