Zoo in Charlotte? (Raleigh, Greensboro, Fayetteville: 2009, construction, calculated)

[NCDave]

Based on the master plan on the web site (Charlotte Zoo) the location is SW of the airport and north of Berewick, between Dixie River Road and Lake Wylie.

I would think a zoo would be quite expensive to build. I wouldn't expect fundraisers and donation boxes to cover it. I would be surprised if this ever happened.

[Megax]

Originally Posted by vindaloo

There used to be a zoo on Wilkerson Boulevard. Does anyone remember?

It's still there - they just changed the name to Wal-Mart.

[SunnyKayak]

Originally Posted by Megax

It's still there - they just changed the name to Wal-Mart.

lmao

[vindaloo]

Originally Posted by Megax

It's still there - they just changed the name to Wal-Mart.

Still lots of apes and elephants.

[Chromekitty]

Originally Posted by vindaloo

There used to be a zoo on Wilkerson Boulevard. Does anyone remember? I remember an elephant getting loose and I believe that was the beginning of the end of the place. Beside the zoo was a micro midget race track. Down the street was a trampoline center. Maybe we could do that again?

don't ever recall there being a zoo there? I do remember that an elephant got lose over in that area once getting off the train for the circus walk once.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by vindaloo

Still lots of apes and elephants.

[eek]

any decent city should have both a zoo AND an aquarium, IMHO.

[momtothree]

I too would love a zoo here. With my kids who doesn't like long car rides it would be perfect to visit once a month or more if they have a membership program.

However if I had a choice between a zoo and an aquarium, I would love an aquarium! Maybe they can do one like the Dallas Aquarium. I remember it was so unassuming from the outside and was amazed on the inside!


I just looked at the link and saw they have a boy scout training camp? Maybe they are going to partner with Boys Scouts for some funding to have an "official" training camp and campground?

[FondofCharlotte]

There are a lot of good questions and ideas on this blog. First, the Charlotte metro area is largest City that does not have a zoo in the United States. In addition, if you ask a Charlotte voters about Traveling 80 miles to visit a zoo they will tell you that this is the reason they do not visit often.
In 2008, the “Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Department” hired a consultant to ask The voters what they would need to include in a $250,000,000.00 bond referendum. They replied “A Major Attraction” like a Zoo, Aquarium, or Botanical Garden. Guess what the voters got? No Zoo or Aquarium. In addition, if you look at all the non voter approved Public/Private money spent by our Government over the last ten years it is in excess of 1 billion. (Bobcats Arena $270,000,000, NASCAR $230,000,000, 2008 P&R Bond $250,000,000 just to mention a few).
This group has been researching methods on building a zoo, and have been working with a top zoo architect, PJA.
The design is for a zoological Park which incorporates animals, plants, and the environment.
The founder, Robert Mussen, is a member of AZA. The Zoo would need to be in operation for at least a year, and be inspected before they could be accepted into AZA.
Studies have shown that the Charlotte area would support a zoo that would have 1 million plus unique visitors annually.
This facility, unlike the Whitewater center, is for all people regardless of age, sex, social economic status, or race. The group is new and rolling out a grass roots campaign. They have a network through [url=http://www.meetup.com]Do something, Learn something, Share something, Change something - Meetup.com[/url].
A zoo that succeeds does so, more often, as a privately funded and run entity. This is not to say that federal funds will not be sought.
Believe in the vision……………………………………….

[vindaloo]

Originally Posted by FondofCharlotte

There are a lot of good questions and ideas on this blog. First, the Charlotte metro area is largest City that does not have a zoo in the United States. In addition, if you ask a Charlotte voters about Traveling 80 miles to visit a zoo they will tell you that this is the reason they do not visit often.
In 2008, the “Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Department” hired a consultant to ask The voters what they would need to include in a $250,000,000.00 bond referendum. They replied “A Major Attraction” like a Zoo, Aquarium, or Botanical Garden. Guess what the voters got? No Zoo or Aquarium. In addition, if you look at all the non voter approved Public/Private money spent by our Government over the last ten years it is in excess of 1 billion. (Bobcats Arena $270,000,000, NASCAR $230,000,000, 2008 P&R Bond $250,000,000 just to mention a few).
This group has been researching methods on building a zoo, and have been working with a top zoo architect, PJA.
The design is for a zoological Park which incorporates animals, plants, and the environment.
The founder, Robert Mussen, is a member of AZA. The Zoo would need to be in operation for at least a year, and be inspected before they could be accepted into AZA.
Studies have shown that the Charlotte area would support a zoo that would have 1 million plus unique visitors annually.
This facility, unlike the Whitewater center, is for all people regardless of age, sex, social economic status, or race. The group is new and rolling out a grass roots campaign. They have a network through Do something, Learn something, Share something, Change something - Meetup.com.
A zoo that succeeds does so, more often, as a privately funded and run entity. This is not to say that federal funds will not be sought.
Believe in the vision……………………………………….

Nice article. I believe that the Whitewater Center isn't doing so well because of it horrible location. If you don't know your way around Chalotte, you will find it extremely difficult to find it. I hope that if a zoo is built, location, transportation, foot traffic factors will be considered. In my opinion, there are some negatives with having a zoo. Insurance, maintainence, and sanitation would be priority issues that could cause problems. But, I would love to see an attraction accessable from uptown so that tourists could take advantage, unlike Whitewater.