Zoo still needs help
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

The Zoo needs help. That's why Lauretta Aiken of Navarre said she decided to organize a brain storming session at the Holley-Navarre Fire station last week. She brought together some representatives of local and county organizations to hear what The Zoo needs and why it is in financial crisis.

Doug Kemper, Director of The Zoo, told the group of community leaders and media that The Zoo was on its way to a bright future, with more financial growth than ever before back in 2004 - before Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis hit.

Giving a brief history of The Zoo and its development, Kemper explained that this Zoo was started by Pat Quinn and Dr. Jim Potter in 1984.

"Pat had been going on his African safaris that he still enjoys today and thought it would be great for the kids of Northwest Florida to be able to see some of what he saw on his trips. Dr. Potter and Pat came back from one of their trips and bought the land on Hwy. 98 to start The Zoo. Then, some time later, they added some share holders like Bobby Switzer and Navarre's own Bill Pullum. Out of the goodness of their hearts and their back pockets, those share holders kept The Zoo going for over 10 years."

He said as year 2000 was approaching, the men began to talk about putting in place an organization that would keep The Zoo going into perpetuity, long after they had retired or passed themselves. That is when the idea of a 501(3)c not-forprofit organization took form. Also shortly after that is when Pat Quinn talked to his old friend Doug Kemper, on a few trips to Africa, about coming to Northwest Florida to help The Zoo transition under a non-profit board and grow. Kemper had helped develop non-profit projects around the country, such as the Aquarium in Seattle and a 20-year project in Oklahoma.

"When I finished the Oklahoma project, I came here to look at The Zoo. I could see right away the potential for building it into a wonderful non-profit national destination point for travelers, as well as a local family attraction," Kemper said. "But first we needed to get it reorganized under a non-profit board."

He said The Zoo, sitting on 50 acres of prime land along Hwy. 98, is as large as many attractions around the country like the New Orleans Zoo. It just needed some facelifts, marketing, and some new initiatives to draw people.

The non-profit reorganization was completed. The board took over management Sept. 1, 2004.

"We had great plans already in place for the future. We had targeted some federal programs for possible grants, and were already that year on our way to a banner year for gate receipts," Kemper said. "So in 2004 we celebrated the 20th birthday of The Zoo and announced its transition to a 501(3)c non-profit business. We always needed 150,000 visitors a year to break even at The Zoo, and in 2004 we were well on our way to 175,000. Then it hit - Ivan, less than two weeks after the nonprofit board took over."

The Zoo was then closed for 13 months. Kemper said before the storms they had grown to about 2,000 annual pass holders, but after the storms they dropped to about 1,600.

"We had insurance we thought would cover us, even for loss of business, but we discovered that it would only pay $191,000 over an eight week period," Kemper said. "But our clean up costs were $600,000 and the business loss was just over $900,000." He said they ended up with about $2-1/2 million loss in buildings and business interruption.

Then at the end of 2004 they had to borrow $375,000 just to feed the animals.

"Now 150,000 visitors will not make us break even, with the extra accrued debt we have made since the storms," Kemper said.

He said, "If we had $200,000 we could make it through this year without closing our doors. But we have been asking for a million in pledges from the community for this year, so we can have a contingency in case another storm or unexpected emergency hits The Zoo. Then we are asking for another couple million over the next year or two because we have a landlease agreement with the original share holders on the land where The Zoo sits that will need to be paid off in a few years and we need to eliminate some of the debt we accrued since the past storms."

Aiken suggested starting a Buy a Brick program similar to the one used in the Nature Walk in Navarre Park that helped fund the Butterfly House and Park pond.

She also suggested asking the county to sponsor a Zoo Authority, not requiring any money but giving The Zoo a government authority to channel FEMA monies. Kemper said that would be a big help.

Dennis Bryce has been working on a children's book about The Zoo for two years, but has changed the focus to The Zoo needing help. He said he would give all proceeds to The Zoo. Some Zoo board members said they would help find a publisher.