[Southsider2k12]

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5/7/2008 11:00:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
Zoo Has Become Area Attraction

Mike Dempsey

Michigan City's Washington Park Zoo is rapidly gaining attention, even far beyond the city's borders.

Not too many communities our size have a zoo, and not long ago the idea of closing the zoo was being discussed. Thanks to the powers that be, we decided if we were going to keep the zoo, it was going to be a modern, state-of-the-art, humanitarian zoo.

The zoo was lucky to secure Johnny Martinez as its director and along with Johnny came his vision for the future. No more bars or cages. All of the enclosed exhibits will be viewed through safety glass. As the exhibits are renovated, they will be reconstructed to simulate the animals' natural habitats. Waterfalls, foliage, ponds and streams, rock formations and natural botanical surroundings will mimic each animal's native country.

In 2007 more than 69,000 people paid to visit the zoo, which resulted in a record revenue of over a quarter of a million dollars in admissions.

One of the reasons many people came to the zoo was the new North American Carnivore Exhibit. This was the new home for the grizzly bears, mountain lions and our river otters. This season, the new Primate House will be the latest attraction. Visitors will go nose to nose with the monkeys. As the Primate House was undergoing construction, a problem arose. A telephone call to the geniuses at Sullair and the problem was solved that otherwise would have cost the zoo a substantial amount of money.

Over this past weekend, the folks at Comcast were at the zoo. Every year Comcast picks a worthy organization to assist on Comcast Cares Day. More than 430 volunteers ascended on the zoo with the financial support of Comcast taking care of the supplies, lumber, food, advertising, etc. Government Affairs Manager Greg Gomolka and Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Rich Ruggerio said they thought this was probably the biggest organized project by Comcast in the nation.

Other community groups also lined up to be included. Troop 871 of the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts (which also donated over 500 food parcels to the animals), the Michigan City Junior ROTC, the Timberland Company, Michigan City's Rotary Club, Countryside Christian Church and Youth Ministries, Moose Family Center 980, Michigan City Parks and Rec and, of course, the Michigan City Zoological Society were all there.

I had to arrange for ice to keep all of the refreshments cold. I called City Pure Ice and talked to Bud. He estimated that I would need about 900 pounds of ice. When I asked him what the bill would be, he said that since this was for OUR Washington Park Zoo, he would donate the ice.

If it wasn't for the Washington Park Zoo, two grizzly bears would have been destroyed. Now they romp in a state-of-the-art facility, complete with winter quarters.

Through a donation from the University of Wisconsin, our zoo acquired seven cotton top tamarins. These little monkeys fit in the palm of your hand and are one of the most endangered primates in the world. The Wildlife Conservation Network puts the current population at around 450. On April 18, two baby cotton tops were born at the zoo. This will, no doubt, result in national attention.

I thank everyone for this past weekend and everyone who lifts a helping hand, or buys an admission ticket.

q

Mike Dempsey is vice president of the Board of Directors of the Michigan City Zoological Society.

[Southsider2k12]

We finally made our first 08 trip up to the zoo today. The things to watch out for were the monkeys area is closed for renovations, and the male lion was nuts. He was trying to attack people through the bars.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Do they still offer season passes?

[Southsider2k12]

Do they still offer season passes?

They have a bunch of different plans depending on if you want single, family, or different variations of a family plan.

Single person entry is $4.50 for a City resident.

[Southsider2k12]

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Washington Park Zoo, Renewed
Not too long ago, the city zoo was $700,000 in the red and facing closure.

Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - It wasn't long ago that the future of the city's Washington Park Zoo was in question.

Facing some $700,000 in revenue shortfalls, slim prospects of recovery and deteriorating facilities, the Works Progress Administration-era zoo was facing a possible scuttling.

But thanks to a reformation of the zoo's master plan, the hiring of a new zoo director and a renewed vigor on the part of the city to improve the zoo, it is now setting attendance and revenue records. And its deficit issues are a thing of the past.

"It's an overwhelming experience to walk through that zoo today," said Mayor Chuck Oberlie, a vocal proponent of the zoo. "And not just physically. What really came from all this is the spirit of a team."

When the zoo was suffering through its worst financial troubles, there was sentiment among city officials and local residents the money spent on the zoo could better be spent on other, more essential services.

Even park department officials struggled with the balance between continuing to run a struggling zoo and improving things like parks and the beach.

But after months of discussions, public hearings and arguments, city leaders came up with a plan, based partly on public sentiment that Michigan City without a zoo just wouldn't be Michigan City.

"There were personalities back then that didn't always mesh and that made it difficult to deal with this," said Washington Park Zoo Society member Linda Lane. "Right now we're experiencing a synergy of some kind that has everyone working together."

That synergy began, in part, with a move by Oberlie that could've been looked upon as a threat. He said the parks department needed to devise a plan to not only make the zoo a success, but a rousing one, at that.

He gave officials an ultimatum in which funding would be taken away from "everything" unless a feasible plan to save the zoo was designed.

That plan began with a fiscal design that assured the zoo would never again experience a budget shortfall of such large proportions.

Parks Superintendent Darrell Garbacik said the department and park board set a goal that officials would do whatever it took to keep any shortfalls from rising above $350,000.

Since the mid-1990s, when the order was put in place, the deficit has stayed under the mark, and this year - thanks to the completion of several new exhibits - the zoo reached goals officials hadn't expected.

The 2007 operating shortfall came in at $292,458 on the strength of a record $257,960 in gate revenues.

"We said we had to get it under control. We called for an analysis of the zoo and made recommendations," Garbacik said. "We could modernize and expand, significantly downsize and basically make it a petting zoo, or eliminate it."

Garbacik said public reaction was mixed during a series of hearings, but those who felt the zoo was a staple the city couldn't do without won out in the end.

"And I also don't think anybody wanted to be a member of the park board that turned out the lights on the zoo," Lane said. "The public wanted the zoo, but when they realized that might mean taking money from other things, they then changed their minds a bit.

"In the end, it seems, the plan that was worked out has worked out."

The plan began with the repair and re-opening of the observation tower, discussions about which Oberlie said were "strenuous."

"Then we made a plan like that for the following years and everything began to fall like dominoes," he said.

Those dominoes are more than $1 million in renovations over the past three years, including a new and safer entrance, a home for the zoo's bobcats, its North American carnivores - bears, river otters and mountain lions - and a soon-to-be-completed primate house.

New zoo director Johnny Martinez gets the lion's share of the credit for the new exhibits and the zoo's new direction. He had worked for years in zoos around the country at which he helped design new visitor and animal friendly exhibits.

And his ideas have worked.

In 2007, according to park department reports, the zoo received $168,420 from adult admissions, $56,299 from children's admissions, $21,051 from group admissions and $12,107 from senior admissions.

Nearly 70,000 people visited the zoo.

"What Johnny Martinez has done since he's been here is really amazing," at-large city councilman and long-time park board member Joe Doyle said. "I don't know if we could have gotten this done without him. But so much has happened to turn things around. It's really a great story."

Contact Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.

Zoo Revenue Improving
Gate revenue at the Washington Park Zoo

2005 - $179,114

2006 - $159,013

2007 - $255,855

Gift Shop revenue at the Washington Park Zoo

2005 - $53,747

2006 - $56,911

2007 - $60,824

Cost of three major projects since 2006:

Bobcat exhibit - $172,000

North American Carnivore Exhibit - $765,000

Primate House - $268,000

Source - Washington Park Zoo annual report

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New Primate House To Open
Officials excited about $268K exhibit that will highlight baboons, lemurs and other monkeys.

Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - Behind heavy glass windows at the primate house at the Washington Park Zoo, vines hang from "trees" of steel rebar and stout wire as an integral part of the refurbished exhibit in about six weeks.

Before the refurbishment last winter, the house - home to baboons, lemurs and other primates for decades - consisted of not-well-ventilated rooms with makeshift habitats and an all-too-familiar smell.

Zoo officials tried to keep the primate house as up to date as possible with the money they had, but the building was always on a list of zoo attractions that needed to be upgraded or replaced.

By the end of June, it will be taken off that list.

"We tried our best to maintain the historical significance of the facade," Director Johnny Martinez said as he unlocked the door to the nearly renovated building. "But inside, there was so much to change. This building is going to really be a great exhibit when we're done."

What once was a broken down old building with antiquated steel bars separating monkeys from zoo visitors is now - even with a couple months to go before completion - a 21st century home for many of the primates.

The outside habitats are glass encased, offering better viewing for visitors and a better living environment for animals, officials say. And as with the habitats inside the building, they are built to better mimic the primates' original homes.

They feature man-made trees similar to those in the animals' orginal habitats, along with real vines from indigenous trees and a rubber floor covered with mulch and vegetation to feel better on the primates' feet.

Work on the $268,000 project is being done, for the most part, by Martinez and some members of the zoo staff. But volunteers are helping, as well. Staff have hung steel rebar to serve as the base for "trees," built the trees around the bar with wire mesh and are spraying a substance onto the mesh that will harden and form the trees.

Martinez, who for years served as exhibits designer at the Omaha, Neb., zoo, said his goal at Washington Park was to build more life-like exhibits.

"It's really second nature to me," he said. "It only made sense to do this."

The visitor portion inside the building will feature a mixture of vegetation both in planters and in hanging baskets, including banana trees.

"We wanted to create as much of a tropical feel as we could," Martinez said.

A new ventilation system will keep the inside of the building smelling better by circulating the noticeable primate smell outside. Martinez said he hopes the building is finished and ready for monkeys and visitors by late July.

"It's really going to be nice," he said. "I think people will be pleased with this building."

Contact Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Southsider2k12]

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Zoo Getting Better
Work Wrapping Up On Primate House

Editorial

It wasn't that long ago that the Washington Park Zoo was viewed by some as a blight on the city. Its exhibits were outdated and the animals were kept in cramped conditions. City officials were even entertaining discussion on whether to keep the zoo open.

Fortunately for the city, the decision was made to keep the zoo going. In fact, Mayor Chuck Oberlie insisted it stay open, giving the Parks Department an ultimatum to find a way to keep the zoo going.

Over the past three years, those efforts have begun to pay off. Not only has attendance increased, so has the quality of the exhibits.

Since 2005, gate admission at the zoo has climbed from $179,114 to $255,855, while gift shop revenue has climbed from $53,747 to $60,824. While the zoo hasn't been open a full month yet this year, the expectation is that those trends will continue.

In that time, the zoo has completed work on a new bobcat exhibit ($172,000) and the zoo's centerpiece, the North American carnivore exhibit for bears, mountain lions and river otters ($765,000). Work is expected to be finished in July on the $268,000 refurbished primate house.

Also since 2005, major renovation took place on the Observation Tower and a new entrance was built on Lake Shore Drive. Overall, more than $1 million has been spent in zoo renovations in the last three years.

Zoo Director Johnny Martinez has gotten a lot of praise from city officials for turning the zoo around, but he is quick to credit zoo employees and staff for their work.

Much of the zoo was built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. While the renovations have been necessary, city officials have worked hard to make sure the zoo doesn't lose its charm.

The Washington Park Zoo is one of the signature attractions for Michigan City. While there are plenty of visitors interested in shopping at Lighthouse Place or gambling at Blue Chip Casino, lots of people come to the city to enjoy Washington Park, the beach, zoo and observation tower. City officials are to be commended for taking the steps that needed to be taken to ensure the zoo's future in the city.

Our Opinion
The Issue: Zoo exhibits are improving, and revenue is on a rebound

Our Opinion: Not long ago, some feared the city would have to close Washington Park Zoo. Fortunately, the decision was made to keep it open and make improvements.

[Southsider2k12]

Took the kids up to the zoo yesterday and here are a couple of updates...

The primate house is very near completion. They even have the lemurs in their spots.

They have new baby emu's and a baby lemur.

[Southsider2k12]

So has anyone made plans to see the new zebra yet? We might drag the squirts up there this weekend.