THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507230070
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
He has worked for the Chicago Zoo and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He is a former account executive for a securities firm, a past college professor and a decorated Vietnam War veteran.
Now, Major T. Benton, 52, a Suffolk native, is the Virginia Zoological Society's first-ever executive director.
On the job since June, this multifaceted man is relying on his broad-based experience to tackle what promises to be a fast-track position. The zoo is soon to embark on its Master Plan, a $14.7 million expansion that will transform the facility into a world-class showcase.
``The combination of my experience seems to fit what needs to be done here,'' Benton said. ``There is a tremendous amount of potential.''
Benton's position is to supervise all of the society's activities, including fund-raising, educational programs, memberships drives and administration. Until last month, the society - a nonprofit group - was run by department heads, clerks and volunteers, and overseen by an active board of directors.
``The city's Department of Parks and Recreation runs the animal end, the society does everything else,'' said Margaret Falkiner, board president. ``We had to have an executive director. The zoo is growing so fast, and we can't ask the board members to take time off from their professions to do what amounts to a full-time job.''
The new director has spent a large part of his first weeks learning from the board and the zoo staff. He said the first real test will come in September.
``We have the new tiger habitat opening on the 23rd, the Zootodo party the 16th and the butterfly exhibit the 22nd,'' he said. ``The first short-run goal is to have all of these projects come off successfully.''
Benton said the fund-raising and public awareness campaign for the zoo's Master Plan will begin by the end of the year. The plan will divide the zoo's 48 acres into world continents, featuring animals indigenous to each land mass. The African Plains exhibit will be the first project, with ground-breaking slated for sometime in 1998. Lions, giraffes, zebras and baboons will be among the species. The Master Plan will be completed in phases, going well into the next century.
Benton has a vision for the new zoo, emphasizing education as much as entertainment. The zoo now offers various educational seminars on site. ``Outreach'' projects take animals to public schools. Both programs will be expanded in the future.
``We need to get people thinking globally,'' Benton said. ``The new zoo will explain and explore the interrelationship between the Earth's people and its fauna and flora. Teaching is as important to this job as the animal and environmental work.''
The zoo's annual attendance is currently about 300,000, and there are approximately 16,000 zoological society members. Benton hopes to see both numbers grow, with visitor volume up to 800,000 over the next several years.
Benton hasn't been to his hometown of Suffolk much over the last three decades, spending recent years training dolphins in the Florida Keys. His father, Major T. Benton, was the mayor of Suffolk in the 1950s and '60s.
Living in Chesapeake with his wife Susie and son Brook, Benton now gets a chance to see his mother, who lives in Westminster-Canterbury in Virginia Beach. Getting back to his roots did play a part in Benton choosing his new job. He had been offered several teaching and managerial positions in other cities.
``I hated to leave the Keys, but it's nice to return to the area where I was raised and be with my mother, sister and other relatives,'' Benton said.
It has been 40 years since Benton was in the zoo. He said a lot has changed, but one thing was especially to his liking.
``The ticket price is only $2 for adults and $1 for kids under 12,'' he noted. ``The city is making the zoo available to everyone by keeping the price down.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MARK MITCHELL/Staff
Major T. Benton, executive director of the Virginia Zoological
Society, displays plans for the facility's $14.7 million expansion.
Fund-raising for the zoo's transformation will begin by the end of
the year, with ground-breaking slated for 1998.
by CNB