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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Zoo Atlanta staying in Grant Park
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Zoo Atlanta will remain in Grant Park and not move to the old fairgrounds at Lakewood, the zoo’s board chairman said today.
Instead, the zoo will redesign its current site and possibly add a few more acres from parking lots and a tract of city-owned land adjacent to the zoo, said Mickey Brown, who oversees the board.
Board members on Tuesday agreed to keep the zoo at Grant Park, its home since 1889.
Redesigning the zoo could cost as much as $175 million, Brown estimated.
Zoo officials, consultants and others had considered moving to Lakewood, south of downtown, so that the zoo could expand. After reviewing the site, they decided it wouldn’t be worth the money, Brown said.
Some also felt an attachment to the current site, where generations of people have come to gaze at gorillas, elephants and other creatures.
“I tried to keep my personal feelings to myself, but I told people from Day 1, If there’s any way we can keep the zoo at Grant Park, that what we ought to do,” Brown said.
The zoo has scheduled a press conference later today.
