While Friede & Associates does most of its work for two-legged creatures, some of our most unique design-build projects are built for our four-legged friends.

In fact, we recently broke ground for a brand new North American River Otter Exhibit for Ochsner Park Zoo in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This project is scheduled for completion in November 2017.

Our longstanding relationship with Oschner Park and The Friends of the Baraboo Zoo spans 15 years. During that time, our work has included the construction of two other specialty animal habitats: the Black Bear Exhibit (pictured below) in 2002 and the Lynx Exhibit in 2012. The upcoming otter showcase will be located near the bear exhibit. While all animal exhibits have water features, this project will require a largely aquatic environment for the otters.

We were pleased when the Baraboo Parks Commission and the Baraboo City Council voted unanimously to authorize city officials to draft a contract with Friede & Associates and our design partner Mente Engineering to head up the much-anticipated river otter exhibit. Rather than navigate another time-consuming bidding process, the city and the Friends of the Baraboo Zoo chose our firm to build the exciting, new exhibit.

Design-build construction—Friede’s specialty—is a smart method of project delivery for this work. For starters, it allows for an accelerated start of construction. Time savings are achieved because a less detailed design is required prior to the start of the project and there is more of an overlap of design and construction activities. This helps to shorten the project schedule. The design-build team also offers the owner a single source of responsibility and accountability for the entire project—providing all the project’s required planning, design, and construction services in a single contract. This team approach means everyone—the owner, the designer and the contractor—are in lockstep from the start of the project through completion.

For this design-build project, Friede and Ochsner staff are working together to guarantee that specific exhibit needs are met, while ensuring the project meets the budget, schedule and quality standards our client requires.

Zoo visitors will find the otters delightful to watch. Extremely social animals, otters engage in play in groups of adult females and pups, and batches of adult males. Their energetic lifestyle requires them to eat often; the high-metabolism otters eat a variety of fish, frogs, and small reptiles, as well as various aquatic plants.

The otter exhibit will be the latest addition to this popular Wisconsin attraction, which got its start when Dr. Albert Ochsner donated 2.5 acres of land to the city of Baraboo. The city purchased an additional 9.5 acres of land from the Ochsner Family to create what would later become the initial Ochsner Park and Zoo. The zoo first opened in 1926 with two bear cubs and now has more than 18 different animal species. The zoo also offers regular educational and enrichment programs. A USDA licensed facility, the Ochsner Zoo accepts animals born in captivity from licensed zoos and animals not releasable in the wild due to injury. 

Friede & Associates is pleased to be working on this fun, new project and appreciates the trust our longtime client has placed in us to help expand the Ochsner Zoo. We can’t wait for you to see the new exhibit…and be sure to bring your significant otter!

About Friede & Associates:

When you select Friede & Associates, you are buying more than our quality-assured construction services. You also get the performance and reliability of some of the top suppliers and subcontractors in the area. While other contractors may be cutting quality to remain competitive on price, Friede is forging relationships with members of the project team to bring you the best value and highest quality for your investment.