Birmingham Zoo in Alabama, US, is closing in on its US$15m (€12.7m £9.9m) Capital Campaign fundraising goal to renovate the 59-year-old facility, after receiving a US$1m (€849,000, £658,000) grant from the Robert R. Meyer
Foundation.
The campaign fund – now sitting at US$11.6m (€9.8m, £7.6m) – will go towards the zoo’s facelift, which will include a renovation of the front entrance, with added entrance plaza, classroom and community park area. In addition, the plans will see a new Asian Passage exhibit built to house tigers, orangutans and siamang apes.
New Orleans-based zoo specialist Torre Design Consortium has been tasked with designing the new Asian Passage. Construction on the project is expected to be complete by Q1 2018.
The investment is anticipated to raise the zoo's baseline annual attendance to 610,000 visitors – a 60,000 visitor increase over current numbers.
