The new Baton Rouge Zoo could feature zip lines and adventure courses, a sky lift giving riders a bird’s-eye view of the zoo, splash pads, a rope course, rock wall and a carousel featuring endangered animals, according to a reimagined vision of the Baton Rouge attraction as outlined in a report given to BREC’s Board of Commissioners on Thursday.
There’s also a possibility animals would be grouped together in exhibits highlighting different parts of the world, like Africa, Asia and South America, as well as a large aviary and an area devoted to a massive wildlife habitat in Baton Rouge’s backyard—the Atchafalaya Basin, the report reads.
“Learning from the trends among zoos today, the new zoo’s exhibit will connect the visitor to the animals through up-close perspectives and the opportunity to engage with the animals,” Philadelphia-based consultants Schultz & Williams wrote in the report.
“Imagine feeding a giraffe a lettuce snack, having a lemur jump next to you, or even having a bird land on your shoulder,” reads a portion of the 72-page report, which outlines a list of possibilities for BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo, features that could be available no matter where the board chooses to locate the new, updated zoo as part of a $110 million campaign to upgrade the facilities.
Three sites have been chosen as the best possible locations for a new zoo—its current spot at BREC’s Greenwood Park on Thomas Road, BREC’s Airline Highway Park or the “Nicholson Corridor Zone,” which is located near the intersection of La. 30 and Bluebonnet Boulevard—because of a myriad of factors, including size, proximity to zoo visitors and adjacent property uses.
The report describes the two south Baton Rouge sites as better options than the Greenwood Park, saying they will “better serve and support” the parish by allowing the zoo to live up to its potential.
“In addition, the zoo’s existing location is not ideally suited to take advantage of population shifts and growth expectations, interstate tourist routes, and proximity to potential strategic partners that would advance the zoo’s mission while creating a powerful synergy that would have exponential impacts on the region’s economic, cultural, and tourism realms,” the report says.
Those population shifts, the consultants predict using a 2009 LSU study, show growth of more than 30% in both Ascension and Livingston parishes in the next 10 years, while the other seven parishes in the Baton Rouge metro area decline in population.
Right now, many of the zoo’s patrons come from south Baton Rouge, the Zachary area, northern Ascension Parish and western Livingston Parish, so a move to the southern part of East Baton Rouge would put the zoo close to many of its visitors, it also notes.
Opponents, meanwhile, have baulked at suggestions of moving the zoo away from its current location in north East Baton Rouge Parish to the south. Metro Councilwoman Chauna Banks-Daniel told Daily Report last week that she felt critical voices and stakeholders were not interviewed for the study.
“Anyone who knows anything about how Baton Rouge works with feasibility studies and contracts, the same names come up consistently,” Banks-Daniel told Daily Report.
Construction of the new zoo at either of the two south Baton Rouge sites, the report says, would take three to five years, while renovating the existing site could take up to 15 total years because of difficulties raising the funds needed.
—Ryan Broussard
