WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Zoo New York has a new lease agreement with the city of Watertown, but the deal excludes a key building and comes as the zoo faces potential loss of city funding.
The lease, adopted by council two months ago, means the city will handle basic maintenance and upkeep of the Thompson Park property. It also means the city owns all the buildings except one.
“We had looked to include the visitor’s center behind us, the maintenance of that to be included in the lease,” said Mark Irwin, Zoo New York interim executive director.
Repair costs prompt city decision
The city wanted to know the visitor center’s condition. The roof is in rough shape, with a tarp covering areas where shingles are barely present.
According to a recent city inspection, the cost to repair the roof would be about $138,000. Total improvements were estimated at $160,000.
City management decided that taking ownership is not in the best interest of the city, leaving the repairs to the zoo.
Budget uncertainty
The zoo also faces potential loss of city funding.
“It sounds like we’re not in the proposed budget and that council does not want to put us in it,” Irwin said. “Currently, if it was to proceed, there would be no agreement. There wouldn’t be any funding.”
Missing out on funding from the city while also having to take on repair costs to the visitor’s center has zoo officials rethinking how they will operate.
“We do want to be more self-sustaining, and we’re working very hard to do that,” Irwin said. “How much do we charge for admissions? We’ve been talking about that. We have to balance everything. We have to be here long term.”
Irwin said recent donations after a New York Times article raised half a million dollars. It is helpful, but it is a one-time shot in the arm. He said for a municipal zoo with municipal property, it is hard to operate without municipal funds.
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