Proposed New Zoo for Huntington, WV

NSU42

NSU42

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
I stumbled across the name of the "Huntington Zoo & Aquarium" tonight while on Wikipedia and didn't find any mention of it here on ZooChat so thought I'd share what I found. From what I can tell, news broke of this proposed zoo during the later half of 2022 and overall there has been very little progress made since. Has anyone else heard of this proposed zoo or know anything more about it than what I end up posting here?

Compared to other proposed zoo projects I've seen, the Zoological Society's site looks slightly more official than most, while there is a separate site already for the zoo that looks more like someone just hopes you donate money based off of the hope it is legit. The CEO of the zoo is Andy McKee who at least has some animal/zoo type experience (even though it is pretty minimal for what is proposed), while the the board of directors for the zoological society is mostly made up of "prominent" people from Huntington and Charleston, WV (One of their bios literally looks like what a recent college grade would write as there "synopsis" at the top of their resume.) None of the board members appear to have any zoo experience and the only one with animal experience is a vet tech, but some do sit on boards of other area non-profits.

Andy McKee, the CEO, is a former middle school teacher who hosted a reptile club after school and apparently started getting phone calls from the local community of people looking to donate animals to the program, get rid of animals they could no longer take care of, or reporting animals in need of "rescue". Following COVID, he founded an official rescue that operated out of his classroom and then took it full time by renting out a storefront in a mall. During this time his facility was called The Reptile House & Rescue. In 2023, operations were moved to Valley Park in Putnam County and the name was changed to the Zoology Zone Science Center.

The plan for the zoo is ambitious to say the least. The plan would be to open the zoo in stages as funding becomes available and has five planned phases listed on the website, with a sixth listed as "Phase VI and Beyond".
  • Phase I would require $1.5-3 million for land acquisition, legal fees, ground work, infrastructure, surveys, and site prep and take a year after funding was complete.
  • Phases II & III would require $17-21 million and be done over 3-4 years. During these stages a reptile house, science museum, exotic animal vet clinic, outbuildings for rehab programs, botanical garden implementation, animal acquisitions, and exhibit buildout would take place. If funding allows, the initial buildout of an aquarium would be completed during Phase III. Exhibits in this stage would open within 6 months of completion.
  • Phases IV & V ask for $16-24 million in funding and would take another 2-3 years. This stage includes completing a 1.5 million-gallon aquarium, along with the completion of several playgrounds, a splash park, several shelters, and our Rainforest-themed restaurant.
  • Phase VI & Beyond would be ongoing but boasts of it supporting the zoos "continued efforts to [become]...one of the premier AZA certified Zoos & Aquariums in the world." Here it talks about getting larger mammals for the zoo with a picture of an elephant.
Overall, my take is this is a similar to the proposed Las Vegas Zoo (which has Giant Panda and Polar Bears on its proposed map). It is largely someone's dream facility who has no real knowledge of how zoos run and operate. I think the perfect example of this is that a 1.5 million gallon aquarium is in Phase IV & V like that is a more attainable goal than getting "larger mammalian exhibits" (whatever that means). Many things I would qualify as large mammals (not elephants) could be had quite easily by zoos with proper funding, but instead they are going to build a 1.5 million gallon aquarium for $16-24 million. If it came to fruition, would this be the largest zoo aquarium in the US? (It's currently Omaha, I believe.)

For comparison to other zoo aquariums, Omaha's Scott Aquarium is 1.2 million gallons and cost $16 million to build in 1995, which would be $32 million today due to inflation. Obviously, the most recent example of a zoo building an aquarium would be the one that opened last year in Kansas City. The Sobela Ocean Aquarium contains 650,000 gallons of water (less than half the amount of water proposed by this new zoo) and cost $75 million. How the hell do they think they are going to build a 1.5 million gallon aquarium for so little?

The other major issue here is I don't think the area could really support a zoo of this size, especially because of the large aquarium in the plans. Yes, there is some history of metro areas supporting larger zoos than they should seem to be able too (ie Omaha), but much of that comes down to history and what often appears to be unique support in that one city as other zoos elsewhere have a hard time replicating such success. Unless there is a big boon that tourism can bring in, I highly doubt this could be supported financially.

It think my favorite thing about all these proposed zoo projects is that they all make note of the fact that no large scale zoo has been started from the ground up through a grassroots campaign in the past 50+ years and act like they are going to be the ones to do it. Why are you different? Really, this appears to be another pipe dream.
 
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Aside from the aquarium and science museum it sounded almost reasonable. Extra space for a specialist reptile collection with some common-ish amenities (garden, playground, restaurant, splash pad) just sounds like a small zoo in a public park. I could see the reptile park concept being sustainable as there isn’t a whole lot of competition in the region. But really this sounds like the kind of thing a city would do. Build a splash pad and playground in a park and also put some of the land aside for a reptile house and a few outbuildings.
 
Persephone said:
Aside from the aquarium and science museum it sounded almost reasonable. Extra space for a specialist reptile collection with some common-ish amenities (garden, playground, restaurant, splash pad) just sounds like a small zoo in a public park. I could see the reptile park concept being sustainable as there isn’t a whole lot of competition in the region. But really this sounds like the kind of thing a city would do. Build a splash pad and playground in a park and also put some of the land aside for a reptile house and a few outbuildings.
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Agreed. The combined statistical area of Huntington-Charleston, WV can almost certainly support some form of small zoo with exotic animals that is of AZA standard, but one of the size proposed is unrealistic based on the population and budget outlined. The area may even support a more mid-major zoo as it would be the only such one in the state/region.

Honestly, I think the reptile facility in its current iteration is already pretty close to what you are describing for the area. The facility is already based in a building in a park, has a playground right next to the building, and there is a public pool facility (no splash pad) right across the parking lot.
 
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A reptile-themed zoo would be a nice addition to the West Virginia zoo scene IMHO. Especially since the only AZA-accredited facility in the state is the Oglebay Good Zoo. Which appears to be primarily mammal focused, not to mention is on the other side of the state from this proposed zoo.

Given that the Huntington/Charleston combined metro area is probably the most populated part of the state, it could definitely support a nice small zoo. And more education about reptiles is never a bad thing, especially in this part of the world.

These people seem to be aiming for the frigging stratosphere, though. Even the proposed Las Vegas Zoo sounds more grounded in reality than the plans for this place do, lol. At least Las Vegas metro area is home to just under three million people, and is a huge vacation destination otherwise. Honestly, it surprises me that a proper zoo hasn't been built there by now.
 
Wisp O' Mist said:
These people seem to be aiming for the frigging stratosphere, though. Even the proposed Las Vegas Zoo sounds more grounded in reality than the plans for this place do, lol. At least Las Vegas metro area is home to just under three million people, and is a huge vacation destination otherwise. Honestly, it surprises me that a proper zoo hasn't been built there by now.
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Absolutely agree here with the assessment of Las Vegas by comparison with WV. While, some of their animals are very unlikely to be there anytime soon (if ever), the zoo is pretty reasonable and attainable looking in terms of layout with basic enclosures and no major themed exhibit areas. That metro area should absolutely have a zoo at this point and should be able to support a good sized one of it ever got off the ground.

People saying Vegas is all about the strip and wouldn't support a zoo come at this too much from a tourist perspective/zoo traveler. Tourists make up a very small proportion of most zoos attendance. I have friends that grew up in Vegas and said there was nothing to do there as everything was focused on the strip. Locals don't want to go to the strip and the area is a major population center. From what I've seen of the old "zoos" in Vegas, none of them ever had the intention of being a true, high-standard zoo and seemed to mostly be built around "animal experiences" which were to attract tourists. A successful zoo in Vegas can not be a crappy, strip adjacent tourist trap if it going to succeed and needs to meet the needs of the local population.

By comparison the CSA for this WV location only has around a half million people and is very unlikely to ever support a zoo the size of the one proposed.
 
This is a great summary of the whole 'pipedream' project. The $75 million Kansas City Zoo aquarium is an interesting comparison and obviously construction costs are cheaper in middle America compared to anywhere near the coasts. There is no conceivable way that a brand-new zoo in West Virginia can become a major facility without a billionaire owner. It's literally impossible to fundraise the hundreds of millions of dollars that would be needed to kick-start the whole process.
 
NSU42 said:
  • Phase I would require $1.5-3 million for land acquisition, legal fees, ground work, infrastructure, surveys, and site prep and take a year after funding was complete.
  • Phases II & III would require $17-21 million and be done over 3-4 years. During these stages a reptile house, science museum, exotic animal vet clinic, outbuildings for rehab programs, botanical garden implementation, animal acquisitions, and exhibit buildout would take place. If funding allows, the initial buildout of an aquarium would be completed during Phase III. Exhibits in this stage would open within 6 months of completion.
  • Phases IV & V ask for $16-24 million in funding and would take another 2-3 years. This stage includes completing a 1.5 million-gallon aquarium, along with the completion of several playgrounds, a splash park, several shelters, and our Rainforest-themed restaurant.
  • Phase VI & Beyond would be ongoing but boasts of it supporting the zoos "continued efforts to [become]...one of the premier AZA certified Zoos & Aquariums in the world." Here it talks about getting larger mammals for the zoo with a picture of an elephant.
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You could do an awful lot of good with 48 million dollars. Even building a significant
conservation program especially if confined to a specialized reptile or bird facility.
What there is no way possible you could do would be a premier zoo and aquarium (accredited or not).
 
Antimony96 said:
The phases of the plan seem pretty misinformed. Getting your hands on lions and bears is an order of magnitude easier than constructing a full-sized zoo aquarium equivalent to Omaha's.
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I can't tell if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me.
 
JVM said:
The thing is, if you remove the aquarium from the plan, I don't know that it sounds too out there.
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While, this might be true to an extent in terms of what they want to do and the animals they may want to get (aside from the aquarium), the "out there" part is still the level of funding they are hoping to get through donations from a grassroots campaign. The executive director for the proposed zoo in North Alabama just said it is impossible to get a zoo project of this size off the ground without government funding and I don't think he is wrong. Long established zoos in major metropolitan areas have a hard time getting $50+ million in donations and other funding for projects, how does a group of people with almost no zoo experience expect to do it?
 
NSU42 said:
While, this might be true to an extent in terms of what they want to do and the animals they may want to get (aside from the aquarium), the "out there" part is still the level of funding they are hoping to get through donations from a grassroots campaign. The executive director for the proposed zoo in North Alabama just said it is impossible to get a zoo project of this size off the ground without government funding and I don't think he is wrong. Long established zoos in major metropolitan areas have a hard time getting $50+ million in donations and other funding for projects, how does a group of people with almost no zoo experience expect to do it?
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This is an excellent point, of course, and I doubt the funding would materialize, unfortunately. I hope the community may choose to prove us wrong, but I don't expect it.

I only meant "too out there" in terms of (assuming the aquarium is removed, I was saying) how to spend the funds if acquired.
 
NSU42 said:
The executive director for the proposed zoo in North Alabama just said it is impossible to get a zoo project of this size off the ground without government funding and I don't think he is wrong.
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Unlikely, not impossible. Just takes one dude (or dudette) with deep pockets that believes in the project. The Georgia aquarium and Bernard Marcus would be the template for that.
Whether or not there are any do gooding billionaires hanging around Huntington WV, I have no idea.
 
NSU42 said:
I stumbled across the name of the "Huntington Zoo & Aquarium" tonight while on Wikipedia and didn't find any mention of it here on ZooChat so thought I'd share what I found. From what I can tell, news broke of this proposed zoo during the later half of 2022 and overall there has been very little progress made since. Has anyone else heard of this proposed zoo or know anything more about it than what I end up posting here?

Compared to other proposed zoo projects I've seen, the Zoological Society's site looks slightly more official than most, while there is a separate site already for the zoo that looks more like someone just hopes you donate money based off of the hope it is legit. The CEO of the zoo is Andy McKee who at least has some animal/zoo type experience (even though it is pretty minimal for what is proposed), while the the board of directors for the zoological society is mostly made up of "prominent" people from Huntington and Charleston, WV (One of their bios literally looks like what a recent college grade would write as there "synopsis" at the top of their resume.) None of the board members appear to have any zoo experience and the only one with animal experience is a vet tech, but some do sit on boards of other area non-profits.

Andy McKee, the CEO, is a former middle school teacher who hosted a reptile club after school and apparently started getting phone calls from the local community of people looking to donate animals to the program, get rid of animals they could no longer take care of, or reporting animals in need of "rescue". Following COVID, he founded an official rescue that operated out of his classroom and then took it full time by renting out a storefront in a mall. During this time his facility was called The Reptile House & Rescue. In 2023, operations were moved to Valley Park in Putnam County and the name was changed to the Zoology Zone Science Center.

The plan for the zoo is ambitious to say the least. The plan would be to open the zoo in stages as funding becomes available and has five planned phases listed on the website, with a sixth listed as "Phase VI and Beyond".
  • Phase I would require $1.5-3 million for land acquisition, legal fees, ground work, infrastructure, surveys, and site prep and take a year after funding was complete.
  • Phases II & III would require $17-21 million and be done over 3-4 years. During these stages a reptile house, science museum, exotic animal vet clinic, outbuildings for rehab programs, botanical garden implementation, animal acquisitions, and exhibit buildout would take place. If funding allows, the initial buildout of an aquarium would be completed during Phase III. Exhibits in this stage would open within 6 months of completion.
  • Phases IV & V ask for $16-24 million in funding and would take another 2-3 years. This stage includes completing a 1.5 million-gallon aquarium, along with the completion of several playgrounds, a splash park, several shelters, and our Rainforest-themed restaurant.
  • Phase VI & Beyond would be ongoing but boasts of it supporting the zoos "continued efforts to [become]...one of the premier AZA certified Zoos & Aquariums in the world." Here it talks about getting larger mammals for the zoo with a picture of an elephant.
Overall, my take is this is a similar to the proposed Las Vegas Zoo (which has Giant Panda and Polar Bears on its proposed map). It is largely someone's dream facility who has no real knowledge of how zoos run and operate. I think the perfect example of this is that a 1.5 million gallon aquarium is in Phase IV & V like that is a more attainable goal than getting "larger mammalian exhibits" (whatever that means). Many things I would qualify as large mammals (not elephants) could be had quite easily by zoos with proper funding, but instead they are going to build a 1.5 million gallon aquarium for $16-24 million. If it came to fruition, would this be the largest zoo aquarium in the US? (It's currently Omaha, I believe.)

For comparison to other zoo aquariums, Omaha's Scott Aquarium is 1.2 million gallons and cost $16 million to build in 1995, which would be $32 million today due to inflation. Obviously, the most recent example of a zoo building an aquarium would be the one that opened last year in Kansas City. The Sobela Ocean Aquarium contains 650,000 gallons of water (less than half the amount of water proposed by this new zoo) and cost $75 million. How the hell do they think they are going to build a 1.5 million gallon aquarium for so little?

The other major issue here is I don't think the area could really support a zoo of this size, especially because of the large aquarium in the plans. Yes, there is some history of metro areas supporting larger zoos than they should seem to be able too (ie Omaha), but much of that comes down to history and what often appears to be unique support in that one city as other zoos elsewhere have a hard time replicating such success. Unless there is a big boon that tourism can bring in, I highly doubt this could be supported financially.

It think my favorite thing about all these proposed zoo projects is that they all make note of the fact that no large scale zoo has been started from the ground up through a grassroots campaign in the past 50+ years and act like they are going to be the ones to do it. Why are you different? Really, this appears to be another pipe dream.
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This sounds wonderful, and while I would love to have a facility like this in our area, my main concern is the quality of life any animals that would be kept. My second concern is the spending of such large amounts of money on a project of this size before the city takes care of issues that need fixed immediately like the crumbling infrastructure.
 
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