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Brevard Zoo work earned tour of Merritt Island dragon

Gary Stowell
Zoo builder;

After moving to Melbourne in the late '70s, our family enjoyed visiting Houser's zoo on U.S. 192.

We were sad to hear of its closing, but heartened to hear talk that a new zoo was being planned. While it seemed like an eternity between the closing of Houser's and the announced community build of the new Brevard Zoo, I was excited to be a part of the build.

One Saturday morning, I showed up at the zoo and put on my tool belt, expecting to do some hammer-and-nail-type manual construction. I went over to where the whale was partially built and approached the foreman to see where I could help.

He asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I was an engineer at Harris. He said he had something else in mind for me.

We walked over to an open area, and then he handed me a ceramic tortoise about half the size of a crockpot.

He asked me to create the basic structure using the ceramic tortoise as a model, scaled-up to about 6 feet high by 9 feet wide by 12 feet long. This would be a tortoise emerging from the soil cube.

With several other folks he brought over, we worked on creating the structure out of iron rods and finger iron. During several more days, others finished the structure and still others attached wire mesh to finish the overall shape.

When I next returned to work on various other tasks, I saw that concrete had been applied to the mesh. It was starting to look more and more like a tortoise. In the weeks that followed, the tortoise was painted and the soil cube was built around it.

In the meantime, the preschool our sons attended was having a zoo brick-making day, so my wife and I helped them make bricks that are now part of the zoo's walkways.

An unexpected benefit from working on the zoo occurred shortly after the photo of the tortoise appeared in FLORIDA TODAY. I received a phone call from a gentleman named Warren McPhaden. He had seen the photo and was interested in what measures had been taken to preserve the tortoise from Florida weather. He was interested in trying to preserve the dragon and its eggs on his property at the tip of Merritt Island.

I suggested he contact the folks who had applied the concrete, as I had only worked on the structure of the tortoise. He thanked me for the suggestion and then asked if my family would like to tour the dragon. Of course, we were delighted to accept his offer.

He called back and said he would not be available that day, but we were welcome to explore the dragon on our own. It was quite an adventure to go inside the Merritt Island dragon. The view of the river, the causeway, and South Brevard from inside the dragon's mouth was amazing.

about this series

For the next few months, we'll feature columns about people and animals involved with the Brevard Zoo as the local attraction celebrates its 20th birthday.