Desert Dome (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium)

Omaha's zoo, founded in 1894 as the Riverview Park Zoo, had opened its large indoor rainforest, the Lied Jungle, in 1992. The Desert Dome followed a decade later: inaugurated in April 2002, it was built by the contractor Kiewit. Its cost, about $31.5 million, also covers the Kingdoms of the Night exhibit built beneath the dome and opened in April 2003.

The project aimed to lift the zoo's attendance towards 1.5 million visitors a year, and press coverage at the time reported more than 70,000 admissions in the opening week. Most of the cacti came from sites in the American Southwest threatened by urban sprawl, according to the zoo's then director, Terry Gouveia.

The dome's lobby was partly remodelled between 12 May and 19 July 2014. The zoo notes that the exhibit sometimes closes for maintenance, and it states that the exhibit was voted the nation's top zoo exhibit in USA Today's 10Best ranking. The sources consulted name no architect or engineering firm.

The dome is 70 metres across and rises 42 metres (137 ft) above the main level, about thirteen storeys; the zoo bills it as the world's largest glazed geodesic dome. Its triangulated frame carries 1,760 acrylic panels in four shades, some of them clear, laid out to give maximum shade in summer and maximum light in winter so as to cut energy use.

Inside, the desert covers around 3,900 m², and the whole with Kingdoms of the Night reaches 7,800 m² on two levels. A central mountain of 55 feet (roughly 15 metres) divides the space between the three regions. Press coverage from 2002 also describes a canyon oasis, waterfalls, ponds and bubbling potholes illustrating desert water sources.

Three deserts are recreated. The Namib of southern Africa is built around a 30-foot (about 9 m) dune shaped from 300 tons of red sand; it houses 21 reptile species, including the inland taipan, and rare plants such as Welwitschia. Australia's Red Center evokes Ayers Rock and Wave Rock through replicas. The Sonoran Desert of the south-western United States and Mexico holds ocelots and peccaries, along with what the zoo calls the world's largest indoor rattlesnake exhibit.

In 2002 the dome held 175 plant species, among them saguaros, mesquites and palo verdes, and more than 75 animal species, including roadrunners, rock hyraxes, hummingbirds, Harris's hawks, pumas and leopards. A sun room displays young reptiles and amphibians in natural light.

The Desert Dome stands in one of the central areas of the Henry Doorly Zoo, not far from the Lied Jungle, and takes about an hour to see, longer with Kingdoms of the Night, the nocturnal exhibit directly beneath the dome. Being enclosed and climate-controlled, the visit does not depend on the weather outside.

Both exhibits close from time to time for maintenance, so checking the zoo's website before a visit is sensible. A trip combines well with the Lied Jungle, the zoo's other large indoor habitat, which also has an entry in the atlas, and with the rest of the park.