08-13-2007 Luecke pledges $1.4 million, long-term plan for zoo

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165,248—the sixth lowest gate in the past 26 years. (Peak attendance at Potawatomi Zoo reached 228,035 in 1988, and the 26-year average is nearly 184,000 annual visitors.) A zoo in a smaller city, Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, Mich., drew more than 300,000 people in 2006, thanks to funding from the locally based Kellogg Foundation. With private support, the zoo was able to develop a marketing plan and identity campaign to reach visitors from Grand Rapids to Detroit. With more than 400 animals on 23 acres, Potawatomi Zoo has plenty of room to add new exhibits, according to DeRosa. Funding remains the primary challenge, and that experience is not unique to Potawatomi Zoo. "Over the long term, funding from government for non-profit cultural institutions and activities has declined, and that trend will likely go on into the next century," according to a trend report for 2020 by the AZA. "Budget appropriations from the federal down to the local level go more toward what are viewed as essential services, while museums, zoos and aquariums face constant pressure to generate more earned and donated revenues to offset that loss. Municipal zoos and aquariums across the country have faced funding shortages and shortfalls, forcing them to use more for-profit business strategies. ..." The AZA report added: "Finding innovative new exhibit trends in the museum, zoo and aquarium world depends on understanding and listening to the audiences they want to engage. Zoos and aquariums are competing for people's leisure time along with the many other options in their lives. ... Large capital outlays to add new and different exhibit experiences may be the clearest response, but often not the most realistic. ... Institutions will have to learn how to be more flexible and nimble; they will have to find ways to create a sense of change without spending much money on major new exhibits and expansion." Average zoo admission prices nationwide have increased 73 percent in the past five years, according to the Morey Group study. In 2002, average admission prices were $5.90 for adults and $3.30 for children, compared with 2006 averages of$10.18 for adults and $6.36 for children. And at many zoos, admission prices include a discount for residents of the jurisdiction whose taxes provide the operating support. Admission at Potawatomi Zoo is $7 for adults and $5 for children, ages 3-14, and seniors 62 and up. There is no discount for South Bend city taxpayers. National reports indicate that the average length of stay at a zoo is 3.5 hours, nearly twice the length of time spent watching a movie—even though Potawatomi's adult admission is the same as local movie theaters' standard ticket. While increased admission prices, particularly for those who aren't city taxpayers, may be one means of generating additional revenue, the task force will explore all options on the table, according to Luecke. In October 2006, consultant Schultz & Williams prepared an overview of regional funding models used by zoos nationwide, classifying eight different funding patterns: • Self-generating funding—Zoos with little or no public funding and generally higher admission fees. • Line-item budget appropriations—Zoos that receive annual state or city operating support for a government-owned zoo managed generally by a not-for-profit