With approval for funding from the Monroe County Legislature, officials at the Seneca Park Zoo are moving ahead with phase one of their new ten year master plan.
Nearly $38 million in county funds will support the projected initial costs of close to $60 million. The remainder will be raised through private donations.
Pamela Reed Sanchez, executive director of the Seneca Park Zoo Society, says the planned changes will transform the current facility.
"This will be an all-new experience for people in Western New York. This is part of what makes this so exciting - that we will become a regional tourist destination for people."
The first phase will expand the African exhibit to include giraffes, rhinos and ostriches. Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2017 north of the current elephant exhibit.
By 2019, the 85-year old main zoo building will be demolished to make way for a new tropical exhibit with a new home for Bornean orangutans, gorillas, and other primates including lemurs and other species native to Madagascar. "Anytime you come to the zoo, you'll see something different,” Sanchez said, “because different animals will have access to the overhead trails (at different times). It's going to be so exciting."
Trains will move people from one end of the park to another, and digital technology will update visitors in real time about displays, exhibits, and shows.
Monroe County Parks director Larry Staub says they project 900,000 visitors a year by 2026 - more than double the current annual visits.
"And by doing so," he said, "we would really move away from a county-supported operation and looking at self-sustainability at the zoo."
