Community Weighs In on Future of Lake Superior Zoo

For First Time, Community-Organized Meeting Allows Public to Share Input

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For the first time since the Lake Superior Zoo’s future has been up for debate, a community–run meeting gave the public a chance to weigh in.

Thursday night, dozens came out with the hope that their opinions would be considered by the city when the final decision about the zoo is made.

Thursday’s meeting was not for the public to discuss the three potential plans on the table right now for the zoo.

It was, instead, for the public to share the experiences they’ve had, both positive and negative, at the zoo.

The meeting was held by the River Corridor Coalition.

After reflecting on past experiences at the zoo, groups then separated to brainstorm what types of things they’d like to continue to see.

After each group presented their ideas to the entire room, everyone voted on the top three ideas, which will then be taken to the city for consideration in the final decision.

Along with animal and education experiences, topics of discussion included ideas for how the zoo could increase attendance and revenue.

Meeting organizers say it’s not about what the final decision is, it’s about how that decision is reached.

“To make major changes with what the zoo looks like needs lots of public input because we don’t want to have one plan to come up without that,” said Julene Boe with the River Corridor Coalition.

The three options can be summarized as follows:

Option one includes adding things like a brown bear exhibit, a forest discovery zone, and a farm, then fixing up areas that were damaged by the flood in 2012, and make improvements to the entrance on Grand Avenue.

Option two is a more expensive, higher–end version of the first.

The third option would take away the zoo’s animals, and build multi–level indoor and outdoor playgrounds.

Meeting organizers say Thursday’s event was not to fight what the city has been doing, it was just to generate public information they believe needs to be considered in this decision.