MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- Two exciting projects, including a zoo, are coming soon to Midland after developers purchased the old Nueva Vista Golf Course north of the Highway 158 and Highway 191 interchange, confirmed Maybe in Midland-Odessa.

The Preserve at Midland has been hailed as a “family-friendly” gathering place and will offer dining, retail, and entertainment opportunities with an active “Central Green”. More than 40% of the property will be preserved for open space and park space, “woven” together by a public trail covering the entire site.

Additionally, Zoo Midland, Inc. in conjunction with Boot Lake Ranch Properties announced plans to build a zoo at the location, the first new zoo construction project in the country in more than two decades.

Expected to break ground in early 2024, with an estimated construction time of two and a half to three and a half years, the zoo will serve as an interactive and educational space with distinctive habitats, including a savanna, farm, treetops, and a possible expansion for an aquarium in the future. 

It won’t be the first zoo to call Midland home; the Cole Park Zoo opened in 1956 and was a popular Midland attraction until its closure in 1977. It housed deer, birds, llamas, a chimpanzee, buffalo, longhorn cattle, and bears. And nostalgic Midlanders have been clamoring for a zoo revival for years.

We are working to gather more information about the exciting project and will update this story as more details become available.