New learning hub coming for Great Plains Zoo with $2 million boost
Midco donation enshrines legacy of late company leader Joe H. Floyd
The Great Plains Zoo is building an education center with the help of a $2 million gift from Midco, a Sioux Falls telecommunications company.
The Joe H. Floyd Education Center is named in honor of the Midco’s former president who served on the zoo’s board of directors for nearly 30 years.
The new facility and set of programs is aimed at transforming animal education for South Dakota youth, the company said in a release on Wednesday.
“In addition to leading Midco across decades of transformation that created the vibrant company we are today, my friend Joe H. Floyd cared deeply for people and helped many throughout his life,” Midco Chair and CEO Pat McAdaragh said. “Joe believed in the power of education, and he would have been so proud to support a center like this at the Great Plains Zoo.”
Spanning more than 15,000 square feet, the Joe H. Floyd Education Center will include a mixture of classroom, administrative and animal learning spaces. The Animal Ambassador wing will house mammals, parrots, raptors and reptiles and make it possible for the Great Plains Zoo to offer twice as many children the opportunity for animal-related summer experiences through their ZooCamp.
“Because of this gift, we will have the capacity for a three-fold increase in our early childhood programs that provide opportunities for little ones ages five and under to engage with animals,” said Great Plains Zoo CEO Becky Dewitz. “It will facilitate the complete rollout of our new Literacy Project partnership with the Sioux Falls School District, which includes educational aquarium and zoo visits for all Sioux Falls students grades K-2. Additionally, the new enclosure space for ambassador animals will allow us to increase our reach into the community, with improved housing for the animals that educate alongside us.”
When completed and fully scaled, the Joe H. Floyd Education Center will support:
More than 1,500 campers annually
Over 160 early childhood families annually
Approximately 4,500 K-2 students through the literacy project every year
Construction on the center, designed by Sioux Falls-based JLG Architects, is planned to begin in 2026 and estimated to be completed in 2028.
“It is incredibly special for us to see dad’s legacy grow through this new education center,” said Joe’s family in a statement. “It speaks volumes about dad’s life and impact that his colleagues at Midco felt moved to make this gift in his honor. Now families across Sioux Falls, our state and region who visit the center will get a glimpse of the man who touched so many lives.”
Content courtesy of SiouxFallsLive.com.
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