Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 15, 1990 TAG: 9007160191
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Zoo officials last week unveiled 10- and 20-year expansion plans that come across as, to say the least, ambitious. With the proposed Explore Park also including a zoo component, some might conclude Roanoke has gone ape.
That's not a completely fair response. Whatever one thinks of its proposals to build habitats for creatures from the Orient and Africa, Mill Mountain Zoo has every right to chart a future for itself, every reason to be excited that an anonymous donor of $150,000 has provided a burst of momentum.
A slapdash collection of animals - some holdovers from the days as a petting zoo for children; some acquired unexpectedly, like the Siberian tiger Ruby - has seen this underappreciated zoo through for 38 years. But it cannot forever survive that way.
"We're big dreamers now," says Rita Loeb, president of Blue Ridge Zoological Society, which operates the zoo. Big dreamers are a rare, perhaps endangered species in the Roanoke Valley.
Even so, a fog of doubts envelops Mill Mountain Zoo's dreams.
Since Explore's backers modified their original idea to incorporate an expanded Mill Mountain Zoo into their project, it's understandable that the zoo's keepers should wish to take charge of its destiny, to save it from limbo, help it grow up. Having struggled for years to find its place in the area's scheme of attractions-to-come, the zoo wants to carve out a new role for itself.
The zoo's role, however, cannot be considered apart from the role designated for the mountain by J.B. Fishburn in his bequest of the property to the city. It is, Fishburn said, to be a park for the valley's residents.
A zoo is more like a park than, say, a hotel. Magnificent Mill Mountain with its amazing views, its proud star - its zoo - is among Roanoke's top attractions, and deserves more notice as such. Still, as a park, it is a fragile place. If, as proposed, the zoo were to expand from three to 40 acres, sprawling down the side of the mountain, imagine the provision for parking alone that would be needed. Parking and parks are not the same thing.
It may be true that the zoo's plans don't conflict with Explore's proposal for a North American animal enclave. While Roanoke by itself might not harbor enough interest to support two zoos, the city is a regional center with regional attractions. Tourists who would visit Explore to see the buffalos might also drive to the mountaintop to see red pandas and rare tropical birds.
It may even be true that, for now, a bird in the hand at Mill Mountain is worth two in a bush at Explore's still largely potential park.
Nonetheless, it's worth recalling that the expense is one reason Explore planners decided not to include exotic animals in their project. The $150,000 gift means construction of an aviary on Mill Mountain can begin in February. It will make a nice addition.
But habitats for animals of the Orient and Africa would prove an enormous undertaking and extremely costly. Cages would not do. If the zoo's reach extends too far, the result could be inadequate for animals and public alike. And could zoo officials really raise the money? Note they aren't offering an estimate of the project's total cost.
Mill Mountain Zoo deserves more support than it gets. It's a pleasant, quiet, charming place, well-run considering its funding. It should be accorded at least a say in planning the mountain's fate. And a little upgrading and expansion would be a good thing.
For now the zoo's plans remain on drawing boards; some may get no further. For the future, a zoo somewhere between its current, modest state and its overarching dreams is reasonable.
by CNB