Free since it opened in 1897, Como Park Zoo in Saint Paul, just across the city boundary from Minneapolis, is one of the last major urban zoos in the country without an admission charge. Como Lake at the center is a glacial kettle lake, formed when a block of ice left by the retreating glacier melted in place, leaving a bowl that filled with water. The park surrounds the lake with a golf course, Japanese garden, Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, a carousel dating to 1914, and the zoo itself, holding polar bears, giraffes, gorillas, and a seal pond that has delighted children for generations.
The conservatory, opened in 1915, offers a sunken garden, fern room, orchid house, and palm dome — genuine tropical relief in the depths of a Minnesota February. Como Park draws nearly 2.5 million visitors annually, a number that reflects its place in the lives of Twin Cities families: generations of children have had their first zoo experience here, their first carousel ride, their first look at a polar bear. It is the kind of civic institution easy to take for granted until it's gone.