JEFFERSON CITY — The St. Louis Zoo will ask a state financing board Tuesday for approval of a $135 million borrowing package that will jump-start development of a new outdoor animal park on 425 acres in north St. Louis County.
The bonds issued by the Missouri Development Finance Board would be combined with more than $100 million in funds from the taxpayer-supported zoo and private money to develop WildCare Park.
Some of the proceeds also will be used to make improvements at the zoo’s main campus in Forest Park, including upgrades to the Children and Family Experience and the east end exhibits, says an application pending with the finance board.
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The new zoo park is in the Spanish Lake area, near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, at 12385 Larimore Road in St. Louis County. The land had been owned by the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 562 and was home to the 18-hole Emerald Greens golf course, a swimming pool, a 30,000-square-foot auditorium, a retirement center, several buildings and picnic shelters, a large lake and a dozen smaller lakes and ponds.
The St. Louis Zoo Association bought the North County property in September 2018. The $7.1 million purchase was funded by donors, and in November 2018, county voters approved one-eighth of 1 percent sales tax to fund repairs at the zoo and to transform the north campus.
In a July 5 letter to the board, Cassandra Brown-Ray, the zoo’s chief financial officer, said the parcel of land is “perfect” for focusing on breeding and conservation while also providing for “memorable guest experiences.”
“The expansion of the zoo’s conservation efforts is timely, as many wildlife species are facing global extinction on a massive scale,” Brown-Ray said. “WildCare Park is a solution with local and global impact.”
The facility will serve as both an entertainment facility for visitors and a conservation area for scientists dedicated to sustaining endangered and threatened species.
Plans call for a welcome center with retail, eating and event space, a safari zone where visitors will board vehicles and navigate nearly 140 acres of the park to observe animals and an adventure zone with nature trails and board walks to bird-watch and explore.
Also on tap is a “Zooseum” facility which is a combination of a walking safari and a natural history museum.
Areas that are already being studied now include bats, birds, coyotes, foxes, invertebrates/pollinators, plants, reptiles, amphibians, and the water quality of lakes and streams. Officials also have discovered a large turtle population in the ponds.
Under terms of the proposed agreement, the zoo will repay the bonds with surplus operating funds.
The new facility is set to open as early as 2027.
