Rasmussen: $900,000 zoo upgrade won’t deepen Bloomington’s budget hole

Posted on December 18, 2017
Miller Park Zoo
A proposed $900,000 upgrade for Miller Park Zoo is on the agenda at Monday’s night’s Bloomington City Council meeting. (WJBC file photo)

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s Miller Park Zoo would get about $900,000 worth of improvements under a plan presented to the city council Monday night.

Acting City Manager Steve Rasmussen said the project won’t add to the city’s structural budget deficit.

He said the city would borrow about $400,000 from parkland dedication fees, and a financial institution would loan the city the rest of the money.

Rasmussen said the loans would be paid off in about 15 years from revenue generated by a new concession stand.

He said the concession stand would cater to zoo patrons and park visitors who don’t go to the zoo.

“We haven’t factored in the people who are at Miller Park that will also be buying cokes and hot dogs there,” said Rasmussen.

“When that adds into it, that will certainly increase the amount of revenue that we’ve got.” Rasmussen added.

Besides the concession stand, the zoo wants an additional parking lot and a new roof for the zoo’s entrance to replace one that’s more than a quarter-century old.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].

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