Irvine Park - the other side

     Last Friday, I shared a few pictures from the Irvine Park Zoo in Chippewa Falls. Today, I’m going on the other side.

I apologize for once again resorting to my Paint app, but there you have it. The main zoo area on the left and the other side on – well – the other side.

The other side of Duncan Creek, that is.

The claim to fame of this side of the park is this small cave.

In the late 1800s, it was enlarged and used by the brewery in town to store kegs of beer. As you may know, most caves maintain a constant and comfortably cool temperature, a temperature which beer likes to be kept at.

The other claim to fame of this spot was that it was the original location of the very first residents of the city’s zoo. It’s hard to picture, with the overgrowth of vegetation, but supposedly, many, many years ago, this was the site of a bear cage.

Doesn’t look like they had much room.

And this little shelter – not sure if anything bigger than a pair of cubs could fit in there.

Can’t knock the location though.

For more information:

            Someone else must think this is worth blogging about. A blog post about this cave and the bear enclosure –

https://detritusofempire.blogspot.com/2012/08/forgotten-brewery-caves-chippewa-falls.html

            Another short article about the cave and its origins –

http://chippewacounty.com/business/eat/irvine-park-cave