Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 5, 1993 TAG: 9403170005
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's getting ready to open a $4.1 million, 14,000-square-foot re-creation of the desert Southwest, the first phase of a $32 million, 200-acre exhibit of North American animals. Most of the remainder of the project is scheduled to open in the fall of `94, essentially doubling the size of the zoo.
These attractions are sure to draw even greater attendance, which already is projected at 600,000 this year. (Over the three-day Memorial Day weekend alone, 18,000 people visited the zoo.)
Next year, total attendance is expected to climb to about a million people, with out-of-state tourists accounting for most of the increase.
What will this mean for the economy in the Piedmont region of the state? Several years ago, when zoo visitation was just 300,000, a chamber of commerce study estimated that the attraction had a $32 million impact on the area. That, of course, has increased along with attendance.
It's sure to grow even more with the zoo's expansion - even beyond the increased impact that can be expected from another jump in the number of visitors. Now it takes a few hours to see what there is to see at the park; most out-of-town visitors stop over on their way to some other destination. With the doubling of the park's size, many hours or even a day may be needed to do the zoo justice - which means overnight stays that will boost motel and restaurant business.
There can be no doubt that the zoo will be the draw. The park is near Asheboro at the intersection of two U.S. highways, 80 miles from Raleigh, 75 from Charlotte, 25 from Greensboro. Pretty much the middle of nowhere, in other words.
And certainly not as accessible or convenient to tourist traffic as, say, Explore Park, located just minutes off the popular Blue Ridge Parkway, right next to the city of Roanoke with all its facilities and amenities, and close to Interstate 81.
Imagine if Explore could muster even half the economic impact of the North Carolina zoo.
Of course, hundreds of thousands of people aren't making the trip to Asheboro and paying an admission fee to look at some woods, a barn and a log cabin - which is about all there is to be seen, so far, at the fledgling Explore Park. (That, and some gorgeous scenery.) No, zoo visitors are going to see mountain gorillas, giraffes, elephants ... they're going to see what they can't see when they're sitting at home.
But, then, these exhibits weren't built and are not maintained solely by the large contributions of a few civic-minded businessmen, the small contributions of less wealthy supporters, and a few grants.
The North Carolina project has an $8 million operating budget for 1993-94, half of which comes from the state. (Attendance, sales inside the park and contributions account for the other half.) The state also paid 90 percent of the cost of building the original African habitat, and 80 percent of the new North American exhibit.
If it ever finds the funding, Explore hopes to lure visitors not only with an American Wilderness Park for exhibiting North American animals, but also:
A re-created Blue Ridge town depicting life in Virginia from 1750-1850.
A Native American Park centered on the culture of the Eastern Woodland Indians.
A facility for preserving rare and endangered species.
An environmental education center.
Fanciful dreams? Wild schemes? Without money, yes. But who would have believed in 1967, when the Raleigh Jaycees paid for a zoo-feasibility study by holding a professional football exhibition game, that the trumpeting of elephants one day would be heard in the middle of North Carolina?
They found that, if you build it, they will come.
by CNB