By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – The flamingo exhibit at Miller Park Zoo has been given the green light from the Bloomington City Council.
The city council approved the proposal by a 6-2 vote Monday night. Alderman Kevin Lower was one of the no votes.
“I still have a hard time accepting the fact that we’re going to do this without taking care of a number of other priorities first,” Lower said. “I think we’re putting the cart before the horse.”
Alderwoman Amelia Buragas, while voting for a $735,000 retrofitting of four filters at the Water Treatment Plant, said the council has a good grasp on needs versus wants.
“On the same night that we have now voted to support a quality-of-life institution here in town, the zoo… we’re spending substantially more on our infrastructure,” Buragas said.
The Miller Park Zoological Society and the Ewing Zoo Foundation are putting $153,000 into the exhibit. The initial cost to the city is $136,000.
Bloomington Parks and Recreation director Jay Tetzloff said the flamingo exhibit won’t cost much to maintain.
“Until you know exactly how many birds you’re getting in, you don’t know exactly what your food costs are,” Tetzloff said. “It’s not an expensive animal to maintain. That’s one of the reasons we picked it to be one of the first (new exhibits).”
Tetzloff said clipping the wings of some of the flamingos is a possibility, but most of them will be hindered from flying by the time they get to the zoo. Construction is expected to last three months.
Tetzloff expects attendance to rise five percent with the new exhibit. With a $1 admission hike, Tetzloff said the exhibit will bring in $75,000 of additional revenue per year and effectively pay off the city’s investment in two years.
Alderman David Sage was the other vote against the flamingo exhibit. Mayor Tari Renner said Alderman Scott Black is on vacation and because his absence wasn’t because of an emergency or something city-related, he was unable to vote Monday night.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
