Fort Worth Zoo will spend $3.6 million on new building for children’s programs

The Fort Worth Zoo will begin construction in February on a $3.6 million learning center.

The center, funded by donors, will be built on the site of an unused engineering shop.

It will offer instruction focused on age-appropriate information about zoo animals. Activities will include crafts, zoo hikes and trips to the zoo’s splash park. The existing 12,000-square foot education center will remain in place.

Avery Elander, a zoo spokesperson, said the space is much needed because the popular day camps turn children away each year. More than 3,000 students attended camp last year with more than 400 children on the wait list.

Classes are geared for 4-year-olds through high school students.

“The expansion of the zoo’s education programming will ensure that all children of Fort Worth can be exposed to and inspired by wild things and places, ‘‘ Elander wrote in an email.