QuoteJACKSONVILLE -- The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens will begin building a $40 million Asian bamboo garden and exhibit next year in an effort to draw more visitors and revenue from the region.
Officials hope improvements will generate enough revenue to offset reductions in city funding. The zoo spent $37 million on upgrades and expansions in the past six years as it tried to become more educational and family-friendly.
"The zoo has finally reached a point where, fundamentally, people can see a value in this place," Executive Director Dennis Pate said.
The zoo has also been targeting more corporate and public events by offering outdoor and indoor rental areas and an internal catering service, and by hiring a second full-time events manager. The zoo recently hosted a corporate event with 3,000 delegates, Pate said.
The zoo is one of the top three destinations that visitors ask about at the city's visitor centers, said John Reyes, president and CEO of Visit Jacksonville, a tourism and meeting planner organization. The zoo has 1,400 animal species and 1,000 plant species.
The expansion can only enhance the zoo as a product to attract more visitors and as part of a package to draw more meeting planners, Reyes said.
The zoo has members from 39 states. Its 16,000 memberships represent 50,000 people, including members from 92 cities in Georgia and 156 cities in Florida.
The zoo has a $1.3 million marketing budget, including salaries. Pate wants to use that money to make the zoo a more regional institution.
The $40 million expansion will include a $2 million Asian bamboo garden connecting to the Gardens at Trout River Plaza, which opened in September. The 17th century-style Asian garden will include a lotus pool, a koi pond, a 10-foot waterfall and a bamboo forest. It will seat up to 125 guests for an event, including 75 with covered seating.
Pate expects the garden to open in summer 2008. Construction bids for the project were to close Nov. 15, after press time.
full article: http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2007/11/19/story1.html?b=1195448400^1550939
I was hoping for some tigers with that exhibit, but oh well; They have bears, and lions, but no tigers. Jaxzoo does have some unusual animals like tapirs, and capybaras, to sorta make up for not having a tiger exhibit. The largest jaguar exhibit in North America doesn't hurt either. :)
Say it isn't so! We DID have Tigers, once upon a time... Maybe they are hidden Tigers? Imagine, "Lions and Tigers and Bear's..." Without the Tigers?
Oh my!
Ocklawaha
This is great news for the Zoo. Making it a larger regional draw should do a lot for local tourism.
What other large zoos are there in Florida?
Sanford..
Other decent sized zoos in Florida, not including Jax's or Sanford's:
Bush Gardens (Nation's 4th largest)
Miami MetroZoo
Lowry Park Zoo
Palm Beach Zoo
Brevard Zoo
Naples Zoo
4th largest? I had not idea Busch Gardens was that high up.
All of those zoos are south of Orlando. It looks like Jacksonville is the only substantial zoo within a few hundred mile radius.
well we should invest more often in to our zoo
They also have a new stingray exhibit coming soon.
Signs around town say March 13th.