The Louisville Zoo has announced a $2 million grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation for its new Glacier Run area, bringing the foundation's total support of the project to more than $5 million.

With the gift, the zoo has raised more than $20.2 million for the exhibit. The first three phases of Glacier Run — including an Australian walkabout, a water park, and a tiger exhibit — have already opened. The pinniped (seals and sea lions) exhibit is scheduled to open in 2010, with the polar bear area to follow in 2011. The zoo must raise another $8.9 million to complete the project and establish an endowment to support it.

"James Graham Brown was the first...contributor to help fund a zoo in Louisville," zoo director John Walczak said of the local philanthropist who earned most of his fortune in the timber industry. "The foundation that bears his name has been a longtime supporter. [It] has once again acknowledged the zoo's value to the community and commonwealth and the important role the zoo plays in educating our youth."