NEWS

Nashville Zoo expansion plans: Lions, cheetahs, otters and more

Casey Harper
Nashville Zoo president Rick Schwartz  announces plans for a major expansion.

Lions, rhinos, cheetahs, gorillas, penguins and other new critters are headed to Nashville as part of a $160 million expansion plan unveiled Wednesday by the Nashville Zoo.

The plan, which promises to more than double both the number of animals on exhibit and the zoo's developed acreage by 2020, was touted as a major boon to economic development. Zoo President Rick Schwartz predicted that the expansion, which also will add hippos, giant otters, spider monkeys and Andean bears to the zoo's menagerie, will mean an anticipated 1.2 million visitors a year. That's more than a 50 percent increase.

The announcement also served as a launch point for a private fundraising effort to see the project through. The zoo has received $28 million in commitments so far, including $15 million from the city.

"The potential here is unbelievable," said Mayor Karl Dean, who stood in front of the elephant enclosure as he endorsed the expansion plans.

Schwartz said the zoo's 188 acres would be developed once the plan is fully implemented. When the undeveloped land is included, the zoo is the ninth-largest in the United States.

Schwartz said the zoo has the capacity to rival some of the best zoos in the country, and mentioned the San Diego Zoo as one that draws visitors from afar.

"Our goal really is to make this a world-class zoo," he said. "A world-class zoo for a world-class city."

A new first impression

After driving down an expanded entry road, visitors would park in a much larger lot and walk into the zoo through a new, larger entrance featuring stroller rentals and an upgraded gift shop.

An African safari boat would give visitors unobstructed views as they ride through the new African exhibit space. Schwartz said that exhibit alone, which will feature lions, rhinos, cheetahs and many of the other new attractions, would more than double the number of animals on display at the entire zoo.

An interactive penguin exhibit would allow visitors to walk among and even pet the penguins before entering an underground room with a 360-degree underwater view of the playful polar birds frolicking and swimming behind the glass.

"Nobody has done that in the United States," Schwartz said. "It is going to be totally unique."

Even on their bathroom breaks, visitors could look into animal enclosures — marmosets for the women and naked mole rats above the urinals for the men.

Zoo officials plan to develop a farmers' market near the entrance, and they hope to have a zipline up and running by spring. New restaurants would give zoo visitors more dining choices while helping the zoo raise revenue.

Jim Bartoo, the zoo's marketing and public relations director, said the first completed exhibits will be the Andean bears and spider monkeys, which they hope to have finished by fall 2015.

The health of zoo visitors as well as the creatures they come to see would be a top priority. Security and first-aid stations would be added, along with a new animal hospital.

Bartoo said the new plans modified and expanded on the zoo's $130 million 2012 campaign for a 30-acre African exhibit.

The new plan, Schwartz said, will allow the zoo to build on steady growth in recent years — something Nashville officials hope will boost tourism and energize the South Nashville area around Nolensville Road.

Zoo attendance has been on the rise. In 2003, about 460,000 people attended the Nashville Zoo, a 13 percent increase from the previous year. This year, more than 800,000 visitors are expected.

Mary and Allen Diehl of Nashville live three miles from the zoo and visit at least once a week.

"I'm anxious to see this expansion," Allen said. "It'd be nice."

The zoo sits on about 82 acres. The adjacent 106 acres at Grassmere, off Nolensville Road, would be developed gradually over a period of several years.

"We are going to do this strategically so that we can use everybody's dollars in the best way to create a great zoo for Nashville," Bartoo said.

Reach Casey Harper at 615-259-8085 and on Twitter @CaseyHarper33.