By Josh Siatkowski | Lead Writer
Construction is underway at the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat as the facility receives numerous upgrades to its exterior, including a pavilion with seating, a memorial to past bears and a new trailer loading site.
Work began at the end of last month and is expected to be completed sometime this spring. While Baylor’s live mascots, American black bears Indy and Belle, will spend time at their off-campus site during some parts of the project, Associate Director of Student Activities and Director of Baylor Chamber of Commerce Dr. Austin Smith said that they’ll be around as much as possible, especially for some big weekends coming up.
“[During] times where we know there are going to be a lot of people that want to see the bears, our goal is for the bears to be around,” Smith said. “Especially around homecoming and family weekend.”
For one of only two AZA-accredited zoos on a college campus, this construction is the third phase in a renovation project that has spanned about 20 years. The first two phases involved turning the habitat into the zoo-like exhibit it is today, while today’s work will feature exterior, non-habitat upgrades meant to exemplify its three core values: conservation, education and stewardship.
“These renovations are going to really help us deliver on those conservation and education aspects even better,” Raleigh, North Carolina, senior Tate Hershfeld, who leads Baylor Chamber of Commerce’s care of the habitat, said.
Among the most important features is a new education pavilion on the east side of the habitat, facing the Bill Daniel Student Center. It will feature seating and electronic signage to display history and more easily show when the bears are on campus. Hershfeld said this pavilion could help educate the community through visual presentations.
“We really plan to use our digital screens, and the hope is we can have presentations as an aid,” Hershfeld said.
On the conservation side, Hershfeld said the upgrades will also add native flora around the habitat.
“It kind of goes with the natural habitat design philosophy we had in 2005,” he said, noting that black bears themselves are historically native to Texas.
The pavilion will also feature a memorial to Baylor’s bears of the past, like the most recent pair, Joy and Lady, who passed in 2022 and 2025, respectively.
“When [Lady and Joy] passed, there was this desire to honor them, and also to honor all the bears that have called Baylor home,” Smith said. “There was this idea to have a memorial reflective space with seating that just could be a nice gathering spot, and so there was a donor that had an interest in that, and so that was the inception of this project.”
The project, which is estimated to cost $600,000 according to filings, is entirely donor-funded. The donor has not been disclosed.
Alongside the new pavilion, construction teams will upgrade the loading area on the south side of the habitat to accommodate a new trailer. The habitat received the trailer prior to the project but has not yet been able to use it due to the size constraints of the current space.
Hershfeld said the project, when completed, will create “overall a more enriching experience for our visitors.”
