Independent consultants will recommend relocating BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo from its current spot at Greenwood Park on Thomas Road to either BREC’s Airline Highway Park or the “Nicholson Corridor Zone,” both on the opposite side of the parish, as alternative locations.
The final report and recommendations, prepared by Philadelphia-based consultants Schultz & Williams, will be presented this evening to the BREC Commission at the board’s 5 p.m. meeting at BREC’s headquarters on Florida Boulevard.
BREC wants to undertake an ambitious $110 million campaign to re-imagine and revitalize the parish’s zoo. But suggestions to relocate the zoo away from north Baton Rouge, and to a site in the southern part of the city, have been rebuffed by north Baton Rouge residents who say their community is being neglected economically in favor of south Baton Rouge.
Metro Councilwoman Chauna Banks-Daniel, who represents the district where the zoo currently sits and has been outspoken against moving the zoo, says the report’s finding are “absolutely no surprise” and that she has been told the plan for years has been to move the Baton Rouge Zoo right next to the State Fairgrounds on Airline Highway.
She says when looking at the list of people interviewed for the study, it is no surprise that the firm recommended moving the zoo. Banks-Daniel says Mayor Kip Holden, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and lawmakers from south Baton Rouge were interviewed, but she, north Baton Rouge state lawmakers, the Baker Chamber of Commerce and former Baker Mayor Harold Rideau were not.
“Anyone who knows anything about how Baton Rouge works with feasibility studies and contracts, the same names come up consistently,” Banks-Daniel says.
In a news release, BREC says Schultz & Williams and CLR Design did a full assessment of both the current zoo site and several other potential sites within East Baton Rouge Parish. The consultants performed on-site inspections, sample surveyed the surrounding community and conducted market analysis. They also met with BREC and zoo staff, the zoo’s steering committee members and Friends of the Zoo Board of Directors.
“This planning project has focused on defining how the new zoo can provide the best and highest use to the largest and broadest audience,” says Rick Biddle, Schultz & Williams vice president, in a news release. “The right location is critical for achieving the tremendous community and economic impacts the new Baton Rouge Zoo can have on the Parish.”
In addition to relocating the zoo, Schultz & Williams also recommends updating a feasibility study conducted in 2015 as part of BREC’s 10-year strategic plan and continuing to research the two sites included in the new study as well as any other alternatives that may arise. The original study determined that while there was interest in a re-imagined zoo, potential donors had significant doubt about the long-term viability and security of the zoo at its current location.
According to the new study, Schultz & Williams narrowed down a list of potential sites within East Baton Rouge Parish to three: the current site at Greenwood Park; the Nicholson Corridor, an expanse of undeveloped land near La. 30 and Bluebonnet Boulevard; and the Airline Highway Park site.
The consultants examined criteria such as available acreage; fundability; the number of unique impressions; connectivity to donors; the site’s strength in being an asset to the region; its synergy with partners; the timeframe to achieve full buildout; proximity to core audiences; and the level of operational and guest disruption.
The latter two sites are deemed more attractive locations because they would likely garner strong philanthropic support, a better balance of public and private funding, have a shorter implementation time and could be fulfill BREC’s vision in five-plus years, the report says.
The current Greenwood Park site in north Baton Rouge is unlikely to receive significant philanthropic support, would have a higher, long-term dependency on public support and would require more time for BREC to implement its vision.
But Banks-Daniel says she feels the recommendation is just another cog in the wheel of the effort to build south Baton Rouge up, while not doing anything for the northern part of the city and parish.
“If you have a room inside your house that’s not clean, you’re going to close the door. That’s what north Baton Rouge has become,” Banks-Daniel says.
BREC can accept or reject the consultants’ recommendations. If the recommendations are accepted, the consultant also recommends that BREC update the original 2015 study, solicit the support of an external marketing/public relations partner to lead significant communication needs and initiatives going forward and gather more community input.
Mike Walker, a former Metro Councilman and mayoral candidate and current member of the BREC Board of Commissioners, says he wants to see the economic impact the zoo will have, both in the recommended sites and for the northern part of the parish if the zoo leaves the Thomas Road location. Walker has said he opposes moving the zoo if that relocation will have a negative impact on the communities of Baker, Zachary, Central and the entire northern part of the parish.
However, he also wants to see the zoo maximize its earning potential to alleviate some strain on taxpayers, so he also wants to see how the new zoo will be sustainable and draw tourists to East Baton Rouge Parish.
“I think the zoo will have a tremendous earned revenue potential, if done right, to lessen the burden on the taxpayer,” Walker says.
—Alexandria Burris and Ryan Broussard
