The zoo's long, slow climb back

Joey McLeister, Star Tribune

Lee Ehmke, director of the Minnesota Zoo, sat in Bear Meadow. This spring, as the result of what Ehmke calls “the first major state investment in the zoo in many, many years, a huge show of support,” visitors will discover an elaborate and showy new $30 million exhibit.

By DAVID PETERSON, Star Tribune

Last update: March 19, 2008 - 6:41 AM

Print this story

Follow local news on Twitter

THEY'RE BACK!

Attendance at the Minnesota Zoo soared past 1.2 million in the late 1990s, but then sagged, slipping below the 1 million mark in 2003 and staying below it for years. Thanks in part to renovations such as a new Minnesota Trail, attendance climbed back over 1 million, officials say. And it should keep rising as the zoo this year unveils its most significant new exhibit ever.

More from South Metro

When he makes his pitch for what it will take to lift the Minnesota Zoo into the uppermost ranks of American zoos, Lee Ehmke starts off reminding people what the San Diego zoo has done to draw crowds to that city.

But the director of the zoo in Apple Valley is also being reminded, during the current session of the Legislature, of how vulnerable a zoo can be as it seeks to assemble the money to create such a place.

In the aftermath of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis, even Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a stout supporter of a zoo that is located in what was once his own legislative district, was unwilling to recommend any of the $15 million the zoo wanted to pursue Ehmke's ambitious master plan for a makeover of the state-owned facility.

And then, when the bonding bill came up for consideration in the Minnesota House, the only one of the two bodies that was willing to put some chips on the table specifically for that purpose, the Republican minority leader launched a scathing attack against an $11 million proposal to upgrade a pair of exhibits at the Como Zoo in St. Paul. Why, asked Marty Siefert, does it cost so much more to house a gorilla than to create magnificent luxury homes for people?

The state zoo's smaller request didn't get drawn into that fire. But Ehmke admits he couldn't help listening to the discussion, just in case.

"The Minnesota Zoo used to be very controversial," said Sen. Chris Gerlach, R-Apple Valley. "But the waters have calmed. It's been a lot easier sell at the Capitol than it was in the late '90s."

That's partly because of Pawlenty's strong personal interest in the facility. Indeed Sen. Claire Robling, R-Jordan, considers the zoo the major exception to her sense that it has "not particularly" been beneficial to the south suburbs, money-wise, to have a south-metro governor.

Judging from the governor's position and the versions of the bonding bill that cleared the two houses, the Minnesota Zoo does seem in line to collect between $5 and $10 million, almost all of it for "asset preservation."

That implies that it does no more than fix the roof or the plumbing. But Ehmke has used that kind of money to update parts of the zoo he inherited upon becoming director in 2001 -- most notably in the top-to-bottom makeover of the Minnesota Trail, which opened last year.

A showy new exhibit

This spring, as the result of what Ehmke calls "the first major state investment in the zoo in many, many years, a huge show of support," visitors will discover an elaborate and showy new $30 million exhibit to be known as Russia's Grizzly Coast.

The next step would be a major overhaul of the zoo's entranceway, shifting it to the other side of the complex. And the House bill does award the zoo $1 million toward planning for that next step.

"Curb appeal" is Ehmke's wry term for that project. People entering the zoo today feel a bit like they're coming in the back door.

That project, which would also draw visitors in through a sequence of lively animal exhibits, rather than blank walls, involves another $30 million in eventual requests.

At a time when people worry about the basic safety of bridges, Ehmke understands he won't be first in line in any bonding bill. But he also reminds folks that the zoo has been waiting for a long time.

"Only about a quarter of the initial master plan from the 1970s was ever built," he said. "It's been a struggle to move ahead with that, and we're almost 30 years old."

David Peterson • 952-882-9023

Recent South Metro stories

Freezer full of walleye could put Burnsville man in prison - March 19, 2008

Freezer full of walleye could put Burnsville man in prison - A Burnsville man has been charged with possessing a gross over-limit of walleye, illegal packing of fish and illegal transportation of fish after authorities found 250 walleye fillets, or 125 fish, in a northern Minnesota freezer. More