Heinz Endowments Award National Aviary $1 million Grant for Expansion, Bird Theater

PITTSBURGH – May 23, 2008

The National Aviary today announced a $1 million capital grant commitment from The Heinz Endowments to support construction of a new Avian Immersion Theater.

The award marks the first capital grant from The Heinz Endowments in the National Aviary’s history and brings total dollars raised for the project to $16.7 million. Construction of the theater, along with upgrades and renovations to the existing facility, is estimated to total $28.5 million.

The new theater will be the first of its kind, allowing the National Aviary to offer free-flight bird presentations in an indoor theater setting. Rare and endangered bird species from around the world will be featured, giving audiences the opportunity to see these birds in flight and demonstrating natural behaviors. Music, sound and educational messaging will enhance the presentation, creating a powerful learning experience for audiences.

“We are grateful to The Heinz Endowments for their generous support of this project and its vision,” says National Aviary CEO Linda Dickerson. “The new theater space will enable us to present compelling programs on birds and wildlife in what we believe will be an unparalleled learning experience for all ages.”

The National Aviary is currently in the midst of refining its final master plan for the project, which comprises upgrades to the existing space as well as construction of the new theater. A series of meetings with North Side community groups is being conducted to gain input from the Aviary’s neighbors and to ensure that impact on the existing Allegheny Commons park space is kept to a minimum. The National Aviary plans to break ground on the new theater in 2009.

The Heinz Endowments supports efforts to make southwestern Pennsylvania a premier place to live and work, a center of learning and educational excellence, and a home to diversity and inclusion. Committed to helping its region thrive as a whole community – economically, ecologically, educationally and culturally – the foundation works within Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the national to develop solutions to challenges that are national and even international in scope. One of the largest and most innovative independent philanthropic foundations in the country, The Heinz Endowments awarded more than $84 million in grants in 2007.

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The National Aviary seeks to inspire respect for nature through an appreciation of birds.

About the National Aviary - The National Aviary is America’s only independent, indoor, nonprofit zoo dedicated exclusively to birds. As an environmental organization composed of educators, conservationists and researchers, the National Aviary aims to inspire, educate and entertain its visitors through quality programming, and to play an active role in meaningful conservation and avian research projects. The National Aviary’s collection encompasses more than 200 species of birds, many of them threatened or critically endangered in the wild. Its large walk-through exhibits offer up-close interaction between visitors and free-flying birds, including opportunities to hand-feed and meet species rarely found in zoos anywhere else in the world.

The National Aviary’s educational programs currently include in-house classes and educational tours as well as outreach presentations to schools. Classes are designed to reach a variety of ages, from pre-K through high school, and include live, interactive bird presentations. In 2007, more than 9,800 children attended classes or tours at the facility, and more than 20,000 were reached through outreach programs.

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