 It was originally designed around nursery rhymes and included a castle with moat, replica of Noah's Ark, petting zoo and miniature railroad.Over the next 16 years the city failed to make improvements to the zoo, and it was on the verge of closing until in 1981 a group of civic-minded business leaders formed the Blank Park Zoo Foundation to help save the zoo.The foundation's number-one goal was to provide financial support for capital improvements, animal acquisitions and promotional and marketing activities.