Thursday, November 10, 2016

Throwback Thursday - The Monkey House at Forest Park



Do any of you remember the Monkey House at Forest Park?  It not only housed monkeys, but also lions and tigers.

The monkey house was my favorite thing about Forest Park.  I loved the monkeys the best.  I remember one time standing in front of the cages watching a monkey swing, when all of a sudden I got squirted in the face with you know what.  Even though that was not fun, it didn't take away from my love of the monkeys and the monkey house.

Paul said that his grandfather worked at Forest Park for a time during the depression cleaning out the animal cages.  Their house on Virginia St. bordered the park, so it must have been convenient for him working there.

There was an article on MassLive that said, "The city, aided by public and private funds, is in the process of renovating the former monkey house at Forest Park to allow for year-round public functions and uses."  The article also said "The building is believed to have been constructed in 1911, replacing the original wood building that was damaged by a fire.

The article was dated 1/29/14.  I need to check this out to see what's going on there.  I would love to be able to go in that building again!

PS - In researching Forest Park on the Internet I came across a blog post that talked about old Forest Park.  You can read it here.

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