Bronx Zoo Future of the Bronx Zoo

Personally, if I had the money, I'd make lots B and C into garages which means no need for the Asia lot (except for a few staff lots) then use that for new exhibit space. Deer and antelope are a naturally hard sell in zoos so there needs to be a way to incorporate them among the more popular animals without them being ignored

I actually made this master plan of the zoo that I think could easily be implemented if the capital was there
Bronx Zoo Master Plan
 
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tigris115 said:
Personally, if I had the money, I'd make lots B and C into garages which means no need for the Asia lot (except for a few staff lots) then use that for new exhibit space. Deer and antelope are a naturally hard sell in zoos so there needs to be a way to incorporate them among the more popular animals without them being ignored

I actually made this master plan of the zoo that I think could easily be implemented if the capital was there
Bronx Zoo Master Plan
Click to expand...

You say that as though the zoo doesn't do a good job of this as it is. The monorail is one of the most popular exhibits at the zoo.

~Thylo
 
Yea the idea is that without the monorail, people can enjoy the animals on their own time.
 
If I understand correctly to see the antelopes you are obliged to take the monorail?
In this case as much create an Asian exhibition that would lead people on foot to antelopes and orangutans, tigers, etc ...
 
Okay so the zoo seems to want to stay on small novelties and redesigns but not a new big exhibition.
 
Valentin said:
Okay so the zoo seems to want to stay on small novelties and redesigns but not a new big exhibition.
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I think that's incredibly unfair to say the zoo wants to stay on "small novelties" and redesigns. The zoo has expressed interest in larger new exhibits (the Latin American area for example) but the funds have not been there. On top of their extensive conservation work, the WCS has had an aquarium to rebuild which was also constructing their own major new exhibit at the time Hurricane Sandy ravished them. I'm sure once the sufficient funds have been acquired, Bronx will focus on their own larger plans. As I've said in the past, though, I have no issues with them choosing to improve what already exists in the meantime.

~Thylo
 
I did not say that it was wrong to focus on small renovations. They just don't have the funds to build something bigger.
Bronx has ambition then ... so much the better.
 
tigris115 said:
Also, they put much of their gross into the WCS programs, leaving them with less money to play around with than other zoos.
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I am not so sure that funds are mixed like that. The Bronx Zoo (and its sister City zoos) has its operating budget and income sources. New exhibits are funded by dedicated donations along with state and city funds. These cannot be redirected to other divisions of WCS. But, as I have stated before, construction costs in NYC are astronomical and the State and City funds require all sorts of additional (costly) oversight. It is simply far more difficult to create a fantastic ambitious exhibit at the Bronx Zoo than it is at Henry Doorley (for example)
 
Zooplantman said:
I am not so sure that funds are mixed like that. The Bronx Zoo (and its sister City zoos) has its operating budget and income sources. New exhibits are funded by dedicated donations along with state and city funds. These cannot be redirected to other divisions of WCS. But, as I have stated before, construction costs in NYC are astronomical, and the State and City funds require all sorts of additional (costly) oversight. It is simply far more difficult to create a fantastic ambitious exhibit at the Bronx Zoo than it is at Henry Doorly (for example)
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Is there anything you would like to see at Bronx Zoo that is as ambitious as possible and would also feature underrepresented species? (given that hypothetically, there was a mayor who reinstated the funds that Bloomberg cut way back when, and said mayor found any redundancies in terms of oversight, making sure these redundancies would be slashed)
 
tigris115 said:
Personally, if I had the money, I'd make lots B and C into garages which means no need for the Asia lot (except for a few staff lots) then use that for new exhibit space.
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"If _ had the money" I think being the operative phrase there. Parking garages are often prohibitively expensive to build; Smithsonian originally planned on doing that to free up space as well, but the proposal fell flat pretty quickly due to how much it would cost to construct.

According to this site (Cost to Build a Parking Garage | Parking Garage Construction Cost) a parking garage of average size in an average US location should cost around $8.5 million (presumably for NYC it would be far higher due to higher shipping costs and high wages). That number is already more than many new zoo exhibit complexes cost before inflating it to account for location - and few philanthropists are eager to drop millions to put their name on a parking garage, which means that money would have to come through the limited pool of general revenue for operations and maintenance. A sales tax to boost revenue might provide the funding (it has for other zoos), but who knows if NYC residents would want to raise their already high taxes.
 
Yea I feel that all the problems that the Bronx Zoo has with money are primarily because of the fact that NYC is such a disgustingly expensive place to operate. Can't imagine how SF, LA, and SD are able to get by
 
Coelacanth18 said:
A sales tax to boost revenue might provide the funding (it has for other zoos), but who knows if NYC residents would want to raise their already high taxes.
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I think we all know the answer to that. :p
New Yorkers would see far more pressing problems (like the state of mass transit, sky-high rents, etc) than parking at the Bronx Zoo (which they don't need because New York City residents don't generally drive to the zoo)
 
Yea New Yorkers already get taxed like crazy. Also, I think there's a way that one could hypothetically raise the money through a combination of an aggressive crowdfunding campaign and private donations. I'd definitely sell the fact that it'll free up exhibit space.
 
tigris115 said:
Yea New Yorkers already get taxed like crazy. Also, I think there's a way that one could hypothetically raise the money through a combination of an aggressive crowdfunding campaign and private donations. I'd definitely sell the fact that it'll free up exhibit space.
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There are many zoos that are tight on space and it they are to grow they must expand or find ways to use their limited acreage better. Bronx , at 265 acres, is not one of them.
 
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