Building with the Intention to Break(room): Thank You, McClurg Remodeling and Construction!
Habitat improvement is a continuous project at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Providing a safe, comfortable home for our many animals is one significant part of their overall care. When you visit the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, you’ll notice that each animal has a spacious habitat area designed to resemble a wild environment that helps support and stimulate the animal’s natural behaviors. Behind the scenes, each animal also has access to an indoor space that is more private and away from public viewing. As fascinating as our animal habitats are, we want to take this opportunity to shift focus onto a different spatial improvement that is for humans only: our animal care team’s breakroom renovation, generously donated by McClurg Remodeling and Construction!
For over forty years, McClurg Remodeling and Construction has been a mainstay business in the Syracuse area. From small repair projects to major renovation and even custom homes, the talented team of McClurg Remodeling and Construction serves the broader CNY community, leveraging their experience and passion for craftsmanship to deliver top-notch projects. In addition to providing high-quality construction to suit the needs of their diverse clientele, the company’s founder and co-owner Scott McClurg aspires for the company to be a positive force in the community. The company has a long history advocating for and providing pathways to pursue trades education. Whether McClurg Remodeling and Construction is helping local K-2 students find joy in creating with “building corner” programs, giving Marcellus High School students the chance to practice these skills through a hands-on learning curriculum, or promoting STEM-based career opportunities at a local library, the company aims to inspire and to empower others. As a dedicated organization intent on, as McClurg Remodeling and Construction PR Coordinator Maggie Hartnett describes, “pushing the needle forward to better our community,” the company graciously arranged to provide the Rosamond Gifford Zoo a total breakroom revamp at no cost. We are so appreciative of their efforts to give our animal care team a place of refuge while at work.
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s animal care team is made up of almost 50 individuals, each of whom hold educational degrees in disciplines related to animal biology, physiology, care, and husbandry. Beyond their education, the animal care team members develop further expertise in certain types of animals, which prepares them to be acutely attuned to the needs of the individual animals who are under their care every day. To be an animal care specialist at a facility accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is an incredible accomplishment. The roles are extremely competitive throughout the continent due to the high demand and low availability. Every animal care specialist at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is an experienced professional.
“There’s so much that goes into being an animal care professional,” says Ted Fox, Executive Director of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. “Their duties go above and beyond a typical job. They’ve got to pay attention to the animals in their charge through observation and monitoring, to notice even the slightest change in behavior that might signal the need for a vet. Animals can’t tell you when they get sick, so their caretakers work hard to build trust with animals to establish strong relationships.” For our animal care team, the work they do comes from a place of passion, frequently displayed in their enthusiastic interactions with guests, whether that means giving a keeper chat for a crowd or informally answering questions. “And it doesn’t matter the weather,” Fox continues. “If there’s a storm, we all make it in because the work needs to get done. The animals depend on us. Likewise, we’ll stay late to make sure the animals are safe.” Indeed, working from home is not an option when your daily responsibilities include monitoring an elephant’s behavior, training an Amur leopard, testing the water condition of a moon jellyfish tank, or free-flighting a red-tailed hawk.
To recap, animal care team members routinely fight through extreme weather to arrive at the zoo so that they can work long shifts of completing a comprehensive list of tasks unique to each animal, during which a variety of challenges arise without warning, all while often engaging and educating guests. As such, their break time is precious.
Despite the difficulties that are inherent to the zookeeping profession, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo knows that it is crucial for our team members to have their own wellbeing needs met so that they can successfully continue caring for our animals. As an expert in creating functional, inviting spaces and a firm believer in the power of community connections, McClurg Remodeling and Construction found the perfect way to show their gratitude for the animal care team’s dedication: renovate the animal care team’s breakroom.
The breakroom had seen better days, showing signs of frequent use. The once-bright wall paint was dulled and chipped. The outdated countertops were dingy and degrading. The breakroom no longer served its purpose of being a place where the animal care team could rest or recharge. “Because we always prioritize our animals’ needs, projects that don’t directly serve the animals sometimes get pushed to the backburner,” Heidi Strong, Director of Development of the Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo explains. “That’s why we were so excited to partner with McClurg Remodeling and Construction for this project. What a great opportunity this was to give back to our animal care team and to show them how appreciative we are of what they do!”
Led by Jamie Sprague (Architectural Project Manager & Co-owner), Dave Furness (Lead Carpenter), and Marty Crandall (Assistant Carpenter), the McClurg Remodeling and Construction team delivered exactly that. “When we build, we build with intention,” Harnett asserts. “Literally and figuratively. Our intention for this project was to give the animal care team a useful space that provided them with all they needed.” What also guided us was our intention to use our talents to show our appreciation for the animal care team, and the zoo as a whole. We love the zoo! A lot of our team members and clients go to the zoo, many with their children. It’s a special place to be, and we wanted to find a way to contribute to the zoo, which contributes so much to our community. When we realized [the animal care team] has a kitchen space, it clicked for us. We know how to do kitchens!”
After collaborating with the zoo to learn more about what the team needed in a breakroom, McClurg Remodeling and Construction arranged for the materials to be donated by Home Depot, Busch Products, and Purcell’s Wallpaper and Paint. McClurg Remodeling and Construction then performed all labor free of charge. By the end of the project, the once-dated breakroom transformed into an improved space with new countertops, a new sink, fresh coats of paint, and an overall brighter atmosphere.
In addition to the amazing improvements to the breakroom, another great benefit of this collaboration between McClurg Remodeling and Construction and the Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is the strong relationship that the two groups have formed as like-minded, community-oriented groups. “We are not done supporting the zoo,” Hartnett enthusiastically declares. “This is the start, but we have more to give. McClurg Remodeling and Construction will continue our collaboration and discover how we can continue to help [the Rosamond Gifford Zoo] and the community we both serve.” The Friends of the Zoo, too, looks forward to growing this partnership, welcoming McClurg Remodeling and Construction into our ever-expanding zoo family as we all do our part to connect our community to nature. Thank you, McClurg Remodeling and Construction for giving our animal care team a refreshed, revamped breakroom to support the amazing work they perform every day!
To learn more about McClurg Remodeling and Construction, visit https://www.mcclurgteam.com/.
