ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Regardless of where you were when Hurricane Ian made landfall, there's a chance you saw the viral photo of a flamboyance — that's a group of flamingos! — seeking shelter in an unusual place: the bathroom of the botanical gardens they call home.
Now, the Chilean flamingos have new digs at St. Petersburg's Sunken Gardens to hunker down in when the next storm approaches Tampa Bay.
"We actually do have an area in here that we can accommodate the flamingos," Sunken Gardens supervisor Dwayne Biggs said. "And this has all been designed and constructed for hurricane standards and the wind loads on the windows and the roof.
"So it's a very safe place."
In the new, state-of-the-art animal care facility, the space is climate-controlled and built with efficiency in mind.
"This is designed to where you can spray down and disinfect everything and there are appropriate cage sizes for growth and adding new acquisitions, [a] veterinarian area, [a] quarantine area, food prep kitchen with all restaurant-grade stainless steel appliances. So it really is just a beautiful facility," Biggs said.
Sunken Gardens spans more than 4 acres and is home to more than 50,000 species of plants that line the winding stone pathways.
The gardens broke ground on the nearly $1 million building in November of last year.
"It shows we're planning for the future and giving the animals first-class care that they deserve through new specialized medical care area," said Lisset Hanewicz, a St. Pete City Councilor.
The building was constructed to match the other facilities on the grounds, holding true to the century-old aesthetic of the gardens.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.