The Blank Park Zoo’s future as an anchor for Des Moines’ South Side is hinged on how much of the Fort Des Moines Park the Polk County Conservation Board is willing to turn over for expansion and modernization of the 40-year-old zoo.

If the Conservation Board declines to reconsider an earlier proposal leaving the county-owned park for the most part intact, the Blank Park Zoo Foundation will entertain offers from other metro-area communities that have signaled they would welcome the attraction, said Terry Rich, the zoo’s CEO. He spoke to the Conservation Board last Wednesday and called a compromise plan reached earlier this year “problematic” and said any expansion completed under the previous agreement would, at best, be mediocre.

A zoo expansion costing up to $50 million has been touted as a key to revitalization of the South Side and shelving the plan now could jeopardize that renaissance. “We want to stay on the South Side if at all possible,” Rich said in an interview, “but we have had inquiries from two other communities.

“This deal isn’t just about a piece of land, but what it does for an entire area. This could do what the East Village did for downtown and Prairie Meadows did for Altoona.”

The compromise reached last summer would give the zoo less than 10 acres of the 112-acre Fort Des Moines Park under a 28E intergovernmental agreement, and only the northern tip of a lake that zoo officials think is critical to the creation of world-class exhibits that would initially include expansion of the African exhibits with the gazelles, ostriches, zebras, giraffes and big cats that attract big crowds and bring in more money for operations. If the Conservation Board would turn over management of more of the land and the lake – about 60 acres in all – zoo officials would be able to cast a statewide fund-raising net to make Blank Park Zoo competitive with other zoos in North America, Rich said.

The compromise plan Rich said won’t work was reached after a series of meetings held over the last 15 months and involves land swapping between the zoo, the city-owned A.H. Blank Golf Course and Des Moines public schools and would require significant redevelopment efforts that could delay opening of the first exhibit anywhere from seven to 14 years. “Even then,” he said, “the quality would not be the quality we think we need in Des Moines or Iowa.”

The Zoo Foundation voted to pursue an expansion plan that would more than double the 22-acre zoo, currently one of the smallest in the nation, after consultants Bassett Associates said in a January report that the zoo can’t continue to be successful without modernizing its facilities and upgrading its exhibits. James Bassett, president of the Ohio-based landscape architectural firm specializing in zoological design, recommended the adjacent pristine natural area and said that by using it for expansion, zoo officials could create a world-class facility at an affordable price.

Conservation Board members gave no indication Wednesday whether they would be willing to reopen talks with the Zoo Foundation. The group’s original proposal to take over management of the entire park was scuttled after some neighbors, environmentalists and Conservation Board members objected that the park’s “wild” character could be destroyed. At the meeting, Rich said zoo officials understand the environmental concerns and view the stand of oak and aspen trees, the park preserve and the play area as sacrosanct.

Conservation Board member Wayne Graham urged his colleagues on the board to look at a new proposal from the Zoo Foundation “as objectively as possible.”

“I liked the plan,” board member Barry Volser said of the compromise. “It’s too bad the plan didn’t work, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only solution out there. If that plan doesn’t work, it behooves us to go back to the drawing board on this important project.”

However, board member Tina Mowry Hadden questioned whether delays associated with preparing land for development under the compromise plan were “all that outlandish.” She pointed out that major downtown attractions, such as the Wells Fargo Arena and Science Center of Iowa, were years in the development.

Even with the less than ideal site provided for in the compromise plan, the Zoo Foundation was poised to move forward with fund-raising earlier this year until the “Project Destiny” penny sales tax referendum was pulled from the November general election ballot. If the 10-year tax is approved by voters in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties next July, the zoo stands to be a big beneficiary when the approximately $750 million the tax is expected to raise is divvied up among 45 local governments for tax relief and area non-profit cultural organizations

SIDEBAR:

The vision

Besides creating a major new African exhibit, the Zoo Foundation’s expansion plans include:

A conservation education facility that could be used by area schools and preschools, with special emphasis on the historic value of Fort Des Moines.

Designation of a county park preserve, wildlife preserve and a neighborhood play structure.

Partnerships with South Side businesses, including Southridge Mall to include assist in redevelopment of that part of the city.

A partnership with the Des Moines school district to relocate the Central Campus marine biology program there and create a diving pool to be used to train Iowa’s emergency medical responders and police officers in underwater rescue.

Establishment of an international festival grounds for use for statewide events, especially those celebrating diversity.

A historic area with a grand entrance and band shell.

Development of a bike trail hub for southern Polk County.

An exotic animal conservation facility.

To put together such a plan would require cooperation among a dozen entities: the city of Des Moines, the Polk County Board of Supervisors, the Conservation Board, Des Moines public schools, the 5th Judicial District, Southridge Mall, the South Side Redevelopment Group, the Greater Des Moines Partnership, the Fort Des Moines Museum, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Zoo Foundation board and the federal government.