Your kids have colored at Easton’s Crayola Experience. You’ve eaten lunch downtown but you aren’t ready to go home. What do you do now?
The Hologram Zoo Lehigh Valley has you covered. You’ll be able to wander across African plains or swim with whales starting in July.
Easton City Council approved a five-year lease for the zoo to open in the city hall / intermodal center building at 123 S. Third St. in Easton. It will open in the space formerly occupied by Valor Insurance.
“They are our newest tourist attraction in Easton. We wish them well,” Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said at the city council meeting Wednesday. You can watch a video of the meeting on YouTube.
Panto thinks the zoo will complement the city’s vibrant restaurant scene and the Crayola Experience, a draw for families across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
Manpreet and Harshal Patel agree.
“If you want to do something with your family or a group of friends, this would be a great place to go and enjoy your time here in downtown Easton,” Manpreet Patel said. She lives with her husband and their son in Upper Saucon Township.
Visitors to the hologram zoo will wear 3D glasses and find themselves immersed among holographic projections of lifelike animals. You’ll be able to walk through a 30-minute show on topics including the arctic, dinosaurs, Africa, Asia, Australia, South America or an aquarium. The shows will change every three months. There will also be shows for Halloween and Christmas, with plans to add shows for Valentine’s Day and Easter.
Each visit costs $24.99. Children under 3 are free. Each admission includes $5 worth of credits at the holographic arcade. You also can pose with animals in a photo studio, where you can download video clips of yourself and your family. Each visitor gets a cardboard “projectogram” keepsake.
There are also two hologram rooms available for small groups of up to six people. Among the 30-minute shows in these rooms are “escape room” adventures where patrons seek treasure. It costs $19.99 to visit a hologram room.
There’s also a hologram wall for groups of up to 30.
The hologram zoo will be the second of its kind in the United States. Australia-based Axiom Holographics opened the first zoo at its U.S. headquarters in Austin, Texas.
“We welcome you to the City of Easton. If you need anything, you let us know,” Panto told the Patels at the city council meeting.
“I hope to see you all there in July,” Manpreet Patel told the city council members.
Hours
Hologram Zoo Lehigh Valley will be open these hours starting in July
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday
10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
For more information, see the Axiom Holographics website.
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Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.