.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} The failure of the “Say Yes to Destiny” referendum, which would have given Blank Park Zoo about $20 million to expand into Fort Des Moines Park, has led the Blank Park Zoo Foundation to hand over the project to the city of Des Moines for direction.

The result: the formation of the SuperBlock Steering Committee, which is looking at ways to expand the zoo and use that to jump-start the revitalization of the area bounded by Southeast 14th to Southwest Ninth streets and Army Post to County Line roads.

“The thing that makes this a complex issue is that the South Side really needs a shining star,” said Terry Rich, CEO of the Blank Park Zoo Foundation. “It needs something to spark down here. This could really help. If this comes together the way the city hopes, it could be a huge spark for tax development and retail.”

However, coming up with a proposal means working with at least 13 stakeholders in the “superblock,” finding enough quality land for the landlocked zoo to move onto and getting something rolling as soon as possible.

The SuperBlock Committee, led by Mayor Frank Cownie and City Councilman Brian Meyer, whose ward includes the zoo, met in mid-October to begin discussions. “We went into the meeting and said, ‘Everything is on the table. Let’s start over with three conditions,'” Meyer said. “One is we have to keep the zoo on the South Side, second is that we have to move the Fort Des Moines Correctional Facility (which has about 50 sex offenders living near the zoo and McCombs Middle School) and the third thing is we want only limited changes to the (A.H. Blank) golf course.'”

According to a tentative timeline, the committee was to have a preliminary plan by mid-October for the City Council to consider by Dec. 3. Now some believe a plan will come by the end of the year.

This next attempt at a plan comes after the zoo foundation tried to reverse a deal with the Polk County Conservation Board late last year that, through a series of land swaps, would have allowed the zoo to expand onto less than 10 acres of the 112-acre Fort Des Moines Park, in favor of a plan that would allow it to take about 60 acres of the park. This would have allowed the zoo to nearly quadruple its 22-acre facility with a $50 million expansion.

But in August the foundation chose not to renew a nonrefundable deposit on a parcel of land key to the deal, because it was no longer guaranteed funding through Project Destiny’s one percentage point sales tax increase and knew that the new committee would not come up with an expansion plan until after the November expiration date. The city also released a study showing that the park, especially the lake, was an environmental hazard.

“We were pushing hard to figure out a solution because we had an artificial deadline with the Project Destiny vote,” Rich said. “We would have taken a lot more time without that, but it was important to do it because that immediately could have financed and built a phenomenal deal on the South Side. Now that (the ‘Say Yes to Destiny’ campaign) has passed, I think time is still of an essence, but we have a little more time to look things over. I think there will be a solution.”

Second chance

Reconsidering the zoo’s expansion has given more South Side parties an opportunity to join in the discussions.

“It unites all the groups that were doing things separately,” said John Irving, director of business development for Baker Electric Inc., who is representing the South Des Moines Chamber of Commerce on the steering committee.

“The zoo’s expansion is key to bringing new business into that area,” he added. “It will increase the value of existing buildings and might encourage redevelopment of older facilities.”

The South Des Moines chamber is already moving ahead with plans to add a full-time staff person, who likely will work out of rented office space near the “superblock,” by next year.

So far, committee discussions have centered on the zoo’s ability to expand.

“The zoo is landlocked,” Rich said. “It’s got land around it but very non-zoological land. It’s not really the quantity of the land; it’s the quality.”

Ideas involve taking part of Fort Des Moines Park and redoing the back nine holes of the A.H. Blank Golf Course using part of the McCombs Middle School land, giving the zoo part of the golf course.

The zoo foundation feels a sense of urgency given that the zoo’s last new exhibit was the Myron and Jackie Blank Discovery Center at the turn of the century. “Now we’ve gone seven years and looking at some land being discussed would take two to three years to move things around and another two to three years to build,” Rich said. “We’re now 11 to 12 years before we have another new exhibit. Typically if you don’t have a new exhibit within a couple years, you lose 25 percent of your audience.”

The Blank Park Zoo Foundation has bucked that trend by hosting events such as Zoo Brew and new programs such as “The Scoop on Poop,” which have boosted attendance levels to an all-time high. But now Rich said the foundation would like to get back to its core mission. He also worries that the public is getting tired of hearing about the zoo’s expansion, which could make it harder to raise money for the project later. Many businesses won’t commit to the campaign until the land issue is settled.

Because so many groups are involved, Rich said, it “requires approval and public hearings and everything to make the puzzle fit together.”

“It’s proceeding slowly, but deliberately,” Meyer said. “We want to make sure that we get it right and have adequate public input.”

The vision

Though the Blank Park Zoo Foundation is “committed to keeping (the zoo) here if at all possible,” Rich said a few cities and individuals have approached the organization about moving. Because the city owns the land and animals, it would mean the foundation would take the money it raises to pay the majority of the zoo’s operating expenses, or more than $800,000, and put it toward establishing a new zoo elsewhere, leaving the city to foot the entire bill.

“It’s the city of Des Moines’ zoo,” Meyer said. “The zoo is not going anywhere. They can’t move the zoo.”

Rich said he has been aggressively pushing for a solution to expand the zoo because of the success the institution has had. It’s one of the most-visited cultural facilities in the state, rivaled only by the Iowa State Fair last year, he said, and nationwide, more people visit zoos than most major league sports events combined. “It will cost less for us to build a zoo for that kind of attendance than to bring in the New York Yankees,” he said.

If the zoo can find an available piece of land to move onto, its first priority would be to construct a new animal exhibit that would draw people while it shuts down some of its older facilities for upgrades. Then it would continue to add new exhibits on the new parcel of land.

Rich said new exhibits would help increase people’s stay by an hour or two, which would likely lead them to spend significantly more on food and gifts. Meyer would like to see other family attractions, such as a water park, nearby, so that visitors will stay on the South Side for an entire day.

Proposals for the “superblock” will likely affect neighboring properties as well, including Knapp Properties Inc.’s 350 acres to the south of County Line Road. About 165 acres of the Southern Ridge development have been zoned for around 400 housing units and 10 acres of commercial development.

Knapp Properties will likely move ahead with residential construction in the spring, depending on the residential market, but is moving cautiously as it waits to see what happens with this study and the Iowa Highway 5 corridor study, which affects the southern part of its property.

“Everybody is committed to making that ‘superblock’ area a real asset for the city of Des Moines by accommodating the zoo and trying to get pedestrian access and retail by Southeast 14th Street and Southridge Mall,” said Gerry Neugent, president and chief operating officer of Knapp Properties, “so we’re really excited about that. It won’t do anything but enhance Southern Ridge’s property.”

Though the Blank Park Zoo Foundation has been pushing city leaders for direction in its expansion, it believes the city has been very responsive.

“The mayor and city staff have been really supportive,” Rich said. “It’s just that down here, no matter any way we go, we’re stepping on someone else’s territory.”