Alma Park Zoo (Closed) Alma Park Zoo Relocation

zooboy28

zooboy28

Well-Known Member
Alma Park Zoo announces closure at Dakabin, and plan to move to Logan via Facebook:

It is with a heavy heart that the owner of Alma Park Zoo has decided to close the gates of the Zoo at Dakabin on 31 March 2014. The writing has been on the wall for some time as many of our loyal supporters would know with residential development slowly but surely surrounding us in our little sanctuary. With that sad news also comes very exciting news in that after 4 years of hard work and planning Logan City Council just recently have granted Development Approval for the new "state of the art" Zoo to be constructed at Logan. A Media Release went out this past few minutes but we wanted our many facebook friends to find out first hand. The plan is to keep as many of our collection of animals together throughout the construction period and you can be assured, as is always the case at Alma Park Zoo, that the animals will be well looked after. The focus of the new Zoo at Logan will continue to be working towards protection and breeding of endangered species, but will also have a strong focus on education, renewable energy and sustainable development in keeping with our ethos. We will still be family orientated and encourage our guests to bring a picnic basket and to have that up close and personal experience we know you have enjoyed at the Alma Park Zoo. Please keep in contact with us. We will keep you all posted on the construction of the new Zoo and all the enclosures we plan.
We encourage all our loyal friends and supporters to visit the Zoo prior to 31 March 2014.
Click to expand...
 
Another Facebook update on the new zoo:

Many of you will know the 2 storeyed brick Antique's Building on the M1 (Pacific Hway) right opposite the entrance to the Logan Motorway. That building will be the Entrance to the new Zoo. It will be fully refurbished and it will have a Café and Conference facilities as well as a Chapel upstairs for weddings and an upstairs viewing deck over the Zoo. We have a large parcel of land approximately 100 acres that goes right down to the Logan River. The new plans incorporate an Education Centre where school kids can have sleepovers and do night Zoo tours, a Reptile Building and an open air auditorium with seating capacity for 250 for the animal presentations. The animal farm will have a Café area close by so Mums and Dads and Grandparents can watch over their children. There will be plenty of open space with grass and gardens and fountains for family picnics and BBQ's. There are also plans for a second stage to have an African Safari collection of animals on the lower levels closer to the River. The new Zoo has been designed by Jon Coe (Jon Coe Design specializes in innovative, award winning zoo planning and zoo design world-wide. Extensive zoo design bibliography and papers online.) a world renowned and award winning Landscape Architect whose goal is to collaborate in the creation of rich and sustainable environments for people, plants and animals. He has done an amazing job. We will try and post you a photograph of the original concept plan soon. You can be assured that all the current animals will be well looked after by other Zoos. We are so humbled by the support that we have received on facebook. We are truly moved and at times almost in tears at the kindness shown by so many. We have been welcomed by Logan City with open arms and because of the zoning of the new site there is no chance we can be built out again.
Click to expand...
 
It all sounds quite good. Is there a time frame for the reopening?
 
Jon Coe, consistently does brilliant designs, however like allot of designs given to zoos the end product frequently is cut back due to funding restraints. It will be re interesting to see what happens here.


Is Alma zoo cashed up from selling their previous site for residential development?
 
Last edited:
zooman said:
Is Alma zoo cashed up from selling their previous site for residential development?
Click to expand...
Considering that it is prime land in a growing residential area and would be one of the last few large (10s of acres) blocks I'm sure that the owners would have received a very substantial sum for it.
 
so, as I understand it, the zoo will close and the animals dispersed to other zoos for a while until the new place opens..... do they then get all the same individual animals back or do they have to start the collection from scratch again? Or have I misunderstood the article, and the animals are simply going from one site to another?:confused:
 
Heard part of an interview thismorning on the radio with someone from the zoo. It will in future be called Logan Alma Park Zoo and originally they had thought of the possibility of having a residential site. They decided against this as they thought that residents might not like the idea or noise if the zoo ever got lions. That means that they have the left open the possibility of having big cats.
 
jay said:
Heard part of an interview thismorning on the radio with someone from the zoo. It will in future be called Logan Alma Park Zoo and originally they had thought of the possibility of having a residential site. They decided against this as they thought that residents might not like the idea or noise if the zoo ever got lions. That means that they have the left open the possibility of having big cats.
Click to expand...

I have since found online the radio interview and now realise that I got myself mixed up. With regards to the housing what they were talking about was that they were considering having lions at the Dakabin site but decided against it because there was residential too close and the lions roaring would have disturbed them. Not that they considered having a residential part in the new site.
 
The Alma Park Zoo animals are all set to move to the old big pineapple site now. The Zoo is open with the Australian animals on site and the Asian and South American sections opening soon. The only one not making the move is Alf the tapir who will move to Darlings Down Zoo.

No Cookies | The Courier-Mail
 
The relocation to Logan has now been called off after the zoo did not comply with the terms of their lease agreement for the land with the council.

Full article

Alma Park Zoo in Logan will not go ahead after more than four years of planning and a half a million dollar investment by Logan City Council.

Council has terminated the Agreement for Lease with Logan APZ Pty Ltd because it has failed to comply with the terms of that agreement.

Deputy CEO Strategy and Sustainability Todd Rohl said as the matter may be subject to legal proceedings, further details could not be disclosed at this time.

He said council could say that Logan APZ had a development approval since January 2014 and that the actual development of the site had been firmly in their hands since then.

“Council is extremely disappointed in the failure of Logan APZ Pty Ltd to deliver upon its obligations and is taking action to see tourism development occur in this precinct.

“As a result, expressions of interest will be called for use of the site based on the previously issued Loganholme Tourism Precinct Master Plan,” Mr Rohl said.

More to come.
Click to expand...
 
Currently they are living at Queensland Zoo which was created by a worker from Alma Park to house the animals.
 
Whatever happened to....?

So Alma Park Zoo closed, and the animals moved to Queensland Zoo. They were supposed to reopen in a better site in Logan, but after disagreements between the Zoo and Logan Council this has not happened. The Zoo company is now suing the council for $11 million.

Story here: No Cookies | The Courier Mail

RATEPAYERS of one of Queensland’s largest councils are facing an $11 million damages bill for a lawsuit over a failed deal to open a zoo in the city.

Logan APZ Pty Ltd (LAPZ), the company behind Alma Park Zoo, is planning to sue Logan City Council for breach of a lease contract over land in Loganholme, beside the Pacific Motorway.

LAPZ is owned by lawyer-turned property developer John Quinn’s children, Clare, Rhys, Gabrielle and Lachlan.

It was granted an agreement to lease a 40ha site within the Loganholme Tourism Precinct that council has now put up for tender.

The failed deal is understood to have cost ratepayers at least $500,000.

Mr Quinn said LAPZ’s costs so far were well above $1.5 million for the project.

“The (law) proceedings are to compel the council to stick to the agreement,” he said.

Mr Quinn said if council stuck to the agreement the zoo could be up and running in a year.

“We’ve had contractors on standby since 2014,” he said.

A statement issued by LAPZ said “legal proceedings will be commenced against the council for specific performance of the agreement and/or damages in the alternative.

“The damages claimed will exceed $11 million,” it read.

Council Deputy CEO Strategy and Sustainability Todd Rohl said council terminated the Agreement for Lease with Logan APZ Pty Ltd in (May) 2015 because it failed to comply with the terms of that agreement.

“As the matter may be subject to legal proceedings, further details cannot be disclosed at this point in time,” he said in a statement.

“However, council can say that Logan APZ Pty Ltd had a Development Approval since January 2014 and the actual development of the site had been firmly in their hands since then.

“Council is extremely disappointed in the failure of Logan APZ Pty Ltd to deliver upon its obligations and is taking action to see tourism development occur in this precinct.”

Mr Rohl said as a result, expressions of interest had been called for use of the site based on the previously issued Loganholme Tourism Precinct Master Plan.

Mr Quinn said the company had complied with all its obligations, but council had not.

“We had to drag them across the line, it was like pulling teeth to get them to comply with their obligations,” he said.

“Council approached us (to relocate the zoo to Logan). We had alternative locations. Council courted us. It wasn’t the other way around. But as soon as the ink was dry on the contract they tried to change the terms.”

Alma Park Zoo closed the doors on its Dakabin home after more than 40 years in March 2014 to make way for a housing development.

Animals from the zoo were relocated to the Queensland Zoo at Nambour on the Sunshine Coast.

Mr Quinn said the zoo business was “still in tact” and the animals were being looked after under an animal loan agreement.

In 2011, Mayor Pam Parker said the zoo development was one of the most exciting ventures to happen in the city’s 30-year history and was expected to generate $13 million a year for the region.
Click to expand...
 
The Zoo has posted on their Facebook page about the story, citing false information and blaming the council. Will be interesting to see how this develops, it would be great to see a zoo developed in Brisbane, but that is looking ever increasingly unlikely.

Hi there to all of our Alma Park Zoo friends!
We apologise for not keeping in touch but to be honest we didn’t want to post until we had some news. We have had a dreadful time dealing with Logan Council and while we would not normally comment on these issues publicly we have been left with no choice. There is a lot of false information out there about the Zoo and why it hasn’t been constructed so over the next few days we will be posting details of the sequence of events for anyone who wants to know the real facts.
In summary the Logan Council have caused the delay in construction of the new Zoo. They have attempted to change the commercial terms of the Agreement. They have failed to comply with the terms of the Agreement and have frustrated our attempts to get on site and start construction. We have had our construction team on standby since 2014.
Every way we turned we were obstructed by the Logan Council from building the new Zoo. We are determined the Zoo should be built. If anyone is interested in the story that was released yesterday by Albert and Logan News, here is the link: No Cookies | The Courier Mail. We would like to thank you all for being so loyal and supportive during this time. Let’s ‪#‎SaveTheZoo‬!
Click to expand...
 
According to Facebook, it seems like Alma Park Zoo is still actively seeking for a location for the zoo... I’m not sure if it will eventuate into anything.
The zoo is searching for a location between the Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Alma Park Zoo
 
Last edited:
Five years after this zoo closed to make way for housing, a new location is now tipped to become the home of Alma Park

Category: | The Courier Mail

A new $12 million Alma Park Zoo could be setting up on the Redlands Coast after the M1 duplication complicated plans to move to Logan. The company behind the zoo has now entered discussions on a possible Redlands site for the new tourist attraction. LAPZ was locked in stalled negotiations with neighbouring Logan City Council, which resulted in a Supreme Court battle, when news the M1 duplication project would cut through the proposed new zoo site. Since then, Redland City Council and Federal MP Andrew Laming have courted the company, keen to secure the attraction and help boost the local tourism industry. Alma Park Zoo could become the latest tourism attraction on the Redlands Coast, if negotiations are successful. LAPZ family spokesman John Quinn said ease of access and projected visitor numbers would determine the final location of the zoo.


Read the full article at the link above.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top