Kansas City, Mo. — The Kansas City Zoo has three lion cubs and a baby tree kangaroo just out of the pouch. Now the zoo's new, private managers hope to breathe new life into the rest of the zoo, as well.
The zoo's new management plan takes control of the animal park away from the city government and gives it to a private association called Friends of the Zoo. It's the city's boldest step yet in its flirtation with public-private partnerships. The plan is expected to be signed by the city's manager soon.
Friends of the Zoo will be responsible for all the things that visitors to the facility had complained about: making sure snack stands are open and concession clerks are competent; picking up trash and cutting back weeds; keeping rest rooms clean and rental strollers in working order, and providing a meaningful view of about 1,000 animals.
"We want to improve the visitor experience," said Dale Wittenborn, president of Friends of the Zoo. "And we're going to do whatever it takes in the long term to get that done."
Elected and appointed city officials were behind the change, which brought little public criticism.
Friends of the Zoo has been around for 42 years. It already manages the zoo's entrance pavilion, gift shops and the Sprint IMAX Theatre with a budget of about $4 million roughly half the current budget for the rest of the zoo.
But its involvement in the rest of the zoo has, until now, been limited by city rules.
"For this (zoo) to really work to its full potential, it just makes more sense for it to be one operation instead of two," said Jerilyn Jones, executive director of Friends of the Zoo.
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