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Issue: 1126 Date: 3/22/2012
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Saint Louis Zoo To Buy Forest Park Hospital and Expand
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St. Louis, MO. (KTVI-FOX2, March 12, 2012) - The St. Louis Zoo is expanding. And it will be good news for more than just the animals.
The zoo announced Monday, a tentative deal, called a conditional contract, to buy the old Forest Park Hospital on Oakland Ave., and turn at least part of it into more parking for the zoo.
"When we do this we are going to do this carefully, we are going to do this thoughtfully, we are going to do it inclusively and we are going to do it openly," said Dr. Jeffrey Bonner, Zoo President and CEO, who promises stakeholders from across the region will be involved in the process of deciding how best to use to site.
When Forest Park Hospital closed, the zoo saw it as an opening and a chance to expand its landlocked footprint by almost 14 acres.
And while the zoo has yet to figure out exactly how to use the site, they have some general ideas in mind, including turning the medical office building on the eastern side of the property into research labs to be used by existing zoo staff, as well as new scientists who could be attracted to the area, which would expand the region's burgeoning bio-belt status.
"This is about achieving critical mass in an area where we already have existing strengths, as a center for plant and life sciences and where we have future potential strengths," Bonner said.
But it's the potential for more parking that will mean the most to visitors.
The property comes with a 600 space garage, and the potential for even more parking if the main hospital building is demolished, which Bonner indicated is likely.
It does not appear on the conceptual renderings made available to reporters on Monday. Redevelopment of the site is potentially good news for the Dogtown neighborhood, according to 24th ward alderman Scott Ogilvie, who represents the area.
"That hospital has been in the neighborhood a long time and since we don`t have a hospital anymore it is nice to trade one institution for another because we know the zoo will be a great anchor for the neighborhood for the next century really," said Ogilvie.
By signing a conditional contract, the zoo association still has up to six months to back out of the deal. But that seems unlikely.
The purchase price has not been disclosed at the request of the seller. The money to buy the property comes from a special zoo association fund, and does not involve using any of the zoo's current fundraising dollars, or taxpayer dollars.
But that fund only covers the purchase price. Developing the property would be an additional expense, as would coming up with a way to shuttle visitors across the highway.
"We have looked at five or six different ways to get people across, obviously they range from the relatively inexpensive rubber tire vehicles to what could be very expensive, some sort of trolley dedicated monorail system that moves back and forth," said Bonner.
"I`d love for there to be more parking," said Chad Thompson, who was visiting the zoo on Monday with his family. "We probably just walked a mile."
About Saint Louis Zoo
Named America's #1 Zoo by Zagat Survey and Parenting Magazine, the Saint Louis Zoo is widely recognized for its innovative approaches to animal management, wildlife conservation, research and education. One of the few free zoos in the nation, it attracts about 3,000,000 visitors a year. |
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