Zoo Seeks Public Input
Eric Ortner
North Buffalo Rocket / West Side Times
From L to R: Jindriska Hernandez, Amajah Varner, Jack Alfieri, Anthony Johson from room 109 and room 105 at School #54, along with the school's principal Elizabeth Martina (backrow), had a special visit from the Zoomobile and Interim Zoo President Rick Paine (far right) on Wednesday, May 24. photo: Eric Ortner
Last summer, following a great deal of controversy, members of the Zoological Society of Buffalo, Inc board of directors and its past president Thomas E. Garlock stood before a barrage of media and announced that the Zoo would not be moving. They decided that it was not fiscally possible to make an expensive and drastic move. However, they were the first to admit that some improvements needed to be made on the 23.5 acre Parkside location .
In order to ensure that the form the Zoo finally takes is something that the community desires, Zoo officials have set up a series of 14 hearings scattered throughout Western New York. Rick Paine, the Interim Zoo President explained, "It's totally open, absolutely open. We want to hear the public's opinions on what they would like in the institution. From what it does for the community to what it is that will make them come in attendance."
The hearings are the first phase of a five phase process that will determine the Zoo's Master Plan for the next 15-20 years. The public hearings will garner public input and be a brainstorming session in order to get some fresh ideas on what the Zoo can be. Rick Paine explained, "Everything is fair game, from the physical facilities like the restaurant and rest-rooms, to the collection itself, and how we exhibit the collection."
The entire zoo staff is committed to creating a better facility. One person active in planning these sessions is the Zoo's Public Relations Director, Ben Marchione. Rick Paine commented, "Ben is one of my cohorts in this project."
Ben furthered Mr. Paine's explanation by saying, "We're not worried too much about restrictions. This is not the time to limit the possible ideas." He continued, "But, nobody should come and say you need to make your plumbing better. We already know these sorts of things."
After the public hearings have brought some new ideas to light, phase II in the planning process will begin. During phase II, the public will be invited into the zoo to participate in focus groups. President Paine said, "We'll sit down with mothers with strollers, and then on another day we'll talk to seniors." In this way the zoo can become more in touch with the individual needs of the general public.
The logical next step in this project is to take the public comments provided through phases I and II and create a draft Master Plan. In phase IV this draft plan will be presented to the general public for comment. This is expected to take place in late fall of 2000. Rick Paine commented, "We're hoping to provide the public with several additional opportunities to comment on the Draft Master Plan and then we're going to send that on to the designers and hopefully a final Master Plan will be available in early 2001."
Ben Marchione commented, "We don't see this as controversial, and we hope people get behind it. It isn't a New Zoo fiasco."
Rick Paine jumped in, "I think we're starting from the perspective that the Buffalo Zoo is an important WNY cultural activity." He continued, "This is a great step. I see such a clear direction for the Zoo to better itself. We are really on the path to success. I think we do a good job serving the public. We just want to do it better!"
The importance of public input cannot be overstated because it is the foundation to the entire project. To help insure that there is a large showing of public support at these meetings, a one-year family Zoo membership will be raffled off at each meeting location.
The first public meetings will be held tomorrow, Thursday, June 1st from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Frontier High School in Hamburg, and in Lafayette High School, located at 370 Lafayette Avenue on the West Side. Subsequent meetings will be scheduled on Saturday, June 3, Thursday, June 8, and Saturday, June 10. A meeting will be held in North Buffalo on Thursday, June 15 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in The Nichols School located at 1250 Amherst Street.
