WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Watertown was set to give Zoo New York in Thompson Park $1 million in Covid relief money. But the city discovered it had overspent by $3.4 million.
Now the zoo isn’t getting the money.
For the first time in 20 years, the zoo had a master plan for improvements, something CEO Larry Sorel says is urgent.
“We are not growing, we are not improving, we are not making changes, and that all ultimately is detrimental,” he said.
But, losing out on Covid relief funds won’t stop the zoo from moving forward with the first steps of its master plan.
“We still have money that was allocated approximately two years ago by the city to pay for the initial design pieces,” said Sorel.
Sorel says the zoo has $75,000 that it will use in this phase.
With improvements coming to Thompson park, he says a modernized zoo will draw in tourists.
“We’re adding to it. We want to add interesting animals. We want to enhance the guest experience so that people come and visit the zoo, play a round of golf another day, visit the pool, visit the splash pad,” he said.
The zoo plans to expand further on its land. Currently it takes up 12 of the 25 acres there.
Expanding will add more habitats and bring in new species of animals like bison. There are plans for aquariums and an adventure park rope course over Thompson Park.
If the city does have Covid relief money left over, Sorel hopes the zoo can still receive some of it.
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