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But visits will be limited.

"No one on Earth is more eager for us to have consistent visitor experiences than me," said Ted Townsend, the Des Moines businessman who founded the center that researches great apes' cognitive and social abilities. "We feel it is part of our mission."

It's a part of their mission that's required by law.

Des Moines City Council members in 2003 gave 137 acres to ape trust officials. The city did not require payment for the $210,000 market value of the land, as required by state law. Instead, trust developers obligated themselves to open the center to the public. A visitors center was not part of the requirement.

The land was an old gravel pit that had turned into a hot spot for illegal dumping before trust officials built at the location. Much of the land was not suitable for typical home or business construction, city officials said in 2003.

City Attorney Bruce Bergman said he believes, so far, ape officials have provided sufficient public access to qualify as payment.

"I think they're doing all right," he said.

Ape trust officials have always said the facility would not be as open to the public as a zoo; however, officials have worked hard to provide access when possible, Townsend said.

"These world-class scientists did not come here to be tour guides," Townsend said. "I'm sure they would rather that we all buzz off. But they've been great about teaching people about great apes, and they welcome that opportunity."

Even without a formal visitor program, trust officials said they have welcomed 2,400 people to its campus near Easter Lake in southeast Des Moines. Those visitors included international scientists, members of Congress, collaborating researchers, local politicians, conservationists, students and donors to various charities.

Next spring, the trust will install a temporary building that will house 30 to 40 visitors who also will be able to observe the apes. Bleachers are in place next to the large orangutan play area. A gazebo or other outdoor viewing structure is planned overlooking the bonobos' outside play area, which will be fenced next year, trust officials said.

The officials said they had hoped to have more expanded tours in place by the summer of 2005, but delays in construction thwarted that plan.

At some point - Townsend can't say when, but he hopes within three years - the trust will open the visitor facility. He can't say how much it will cost or what it will look like yet, but it is eyed for an area across a waterway to the north of the orangutan building.

Gordon Smith, a financial adviser from West Des Moines, was invited to the trust after donating money but hasn't visited yet because of his own scheduling difficulties. He is eager to take his grandchildren there. "These are things we don't normally get to see, and it's getting beyond just a simple viewing," Smith said.

Smith has talked to people who are excited to see the apes as soon as possible. "People have to understand that it is not primarily a tourist attraction," he said.

Townsend and the researchers want people to know that the center is not a zoo and that visits will be limited and much different in character than what zoogoers are used to.

For example, visitors in general will be expected to go through an orientation before they visit and will be expected to know that they are part of an interaction, rather than a zoo-style stare session.

Townsend put 16 high rollers, who got a visit in return for a donation to a charity, through two orientation sessions, complete with homework, before they actually saw the apes. Visits offered for auction raised $25,000 for Variety Club, the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation and Bravo Greater Des Moines, a group of cultural organizations.

The separate bonobo and orangutan quarters give the apes their own homes and refuge and ensure that they aren't gawked at all day, which is demeaning, said scientist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, who runs the trust's bonobo research.

Imagine if a stranger came into your house and spent a few hours staring at you while you watched TV, Savage-Rumbaugh said, and you'll get the idea about why the bonobos don't like people who merely gawk.

"People always say, 'Let me see the apes do something,' " Savage-Rumbaugh said. "When the visitor does something for the apes first, then the apes will do something for them, and there is a relationship."

That "something" could be communicating via a board with various symbols the apes understand. Or drawing pictures, or playing an instrument or some other activity. One bonobo drew a picture for a visitor recently. In another case, a bonobo told Savage-Rumbaugh to give a visitor peanuts.

Savage-Rumbaugh plans a series of stations along several paths that will lead through forest on the trust's sprawling campus. Visitors will get to learn about apes at the visitor facility, which may be called a primatarium or learning center, but will see apes only if the apes choose to visit the wooded area or the outdoor play areas next to the bonobo and orangutan buildings, Savage-Rumbaugh said.

APRIL 2002: Des Moines businessman Ted Townsend and scientist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh announce the Des Moines research center.

JUNE 2003: Scientist Robert Shumaker announces orangutan research; construction begins.

JUNE 2004: Name changed to Great Ape Trust of Iowa (formerly Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary).

SEPTEMBER 2004: Two orangutans, Azy and Indah, arrive from National Zoo.

NOVEMBER 2004: Indah euthanized because of terminal condition developed before she arrived in Des Moines.

FEBRUARY 2005: Knobi, an orangutan, arrives from Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.

APRIL/MAY 2005: Eight bonobos arrive from Georgia State University.

OCTOBER 2005: Allie, an orangutan, arrives from Denver Zoo.