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Plans for a Charlotte Zoo


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^ That is still way too large to go anywhere near uptown and we are about tapped out for large-scale amenities uptown anyway, needing to focus on infill and mixes of uses. This zoo in greensboro is over 5 miles from downtown. The equivalent location with available land here would be something like the coliseum area.

Edited by nonillogical
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^ That is still way too large to go anywhere near uptown and we are about tapped out for large-scale amenities uptown anyway, needing to focus on infill and mixes of uses. This zoo in greensboro is over 5 miles from downtown. The equivalent location with available land here would be something like the coliseum area.

I think he was just giving it as an example.

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Maybe Discovery Place could expand one day. I'm sure more older kids would appreciate more animals or fish instead of the junk they have now with the exception of a good exhibit every now and then. Wish Discovery place could update a little more (I think I've been to it since it got remodelded. I went during a field trip so my expierence was totally killed... I know it's for kids but I wanted to see some fish, animals, and mummies...

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  • 1 year later...

Charlotte Zoological park (Zoo Charlotte) Facebook says they signed a contract for 110 acres in southwest Charlotte and that all the acreage has not been contracted out and that it still needs to go through zoning.

They go over facts about Charlotte and the fact there has not been a new zoo in 25 years etc

It states that they expect a press release soon to get people involved To pay $20 a month to join their "Meet Up"

I take it with a grain of salt. Though I do think our market could easily absorb a zoo

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Charlotte Zoological park (Zoo Charlotte) Facebook says they signed a contract for 110 acres in southwest Charlotte and that all the acreage has not been contracted out and that it still needs to go through zoning.

They go over facts about Charlotte and the fact there has not been a new zoo in 25 years etc

It states that they expect a press release soon to get people involved To pay $20 a month to join their "Meet Up"

I take it with a grain of salt. Though I do think our market could easily absorb a zoo

Imagine it would be pretty devastating to the NC and Riverbanks Zoos though. Especially Riverbanks. Asheboro at least has the Triangle and the Triad areas to pull from.

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Imagine it would be pretty devastating to the NC and Riverbanks Zoos though. Especially Riverbanks. Asheboro at least has the Triangle and the Triad areas to pull from.

I doubt those zoos live and die by the amount of visitors they draw from the Charlotte area.  Plus, as you stated the NC Zoo has the Triad and the Triangle, and presumably Riverbanks draws visitors from Charleston, Greenville/Spartanburg, and Augusta in addition to Columbia.  I think the NC Zoo and Riverbanks will be just fine even if Charlotte has it's own zoo.

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I thought it was interesting that the "zoo" made a comment on their own status update with "... land has not been contracted, and the local planning department must approved the zoning"

 

If it is the same people who have been behind the "zoo" since its inception I expect this is more of a scam than anything particularly with requirement for people to pay $20 for a meet-up!

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  • 2 years later...
5 hours ago, caterpillar2 said:

I agree, but I also think that a zoo location somewhere near Morehead/ midtown close to the walking trail would be wonderful and central. It could be a walking destination for visitors uptown and accessible to a large nearby population.

 

Unfortunately there isn't a huge swath of land big enough for a zoo that close to Uptown. Eastland would be an OK site for an urban zoo.

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Just a little additional info...the Eastland site is approximately 80 acres.  Other zoos:

Seattle 92, Denver 80, Atlanta 40, Chicago 35, Indianapolis 64, St Louis 90, NY Central Park 6.5, San Francisco 100, San Diego 99, Salt Lake City 42, Cincinnati 75, Portland 64, Philadelphia 42, Pittsburgh 77, Austin 20, Dallas 106, Houston 55, San Antonio 57

That site would clearly be big enough for a zoo and what an advantage to design a new zoo today based on the advances made to enclosures and interactive exhibits.  I'd think the city would be willing to gift the land if a group of local reputable people formed a zoological society.  If they did it in cooperation with the NC Zoo and/or Discovery Place, it would be even better.

 

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I just want to say that one of the best zoo's I've been to, the Antwerp Zoo in Antwerp, Belgium is only 26 acres and comfortably displays 5000 animals from over 950 different species. They have over 1 million visitors per year, compared to the 1,300 acre NC zoo's 700,000 per year. And it's not just small animals, they have Elephants, Zebras, Tigers, Penguins,  Giraffes, you name it. Eastland mall site could make a very good, and very walkable zoo. However a smaller site even closer to Uptown is not impossible.

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The Brookhill Apartment property at Remount & S Tryon would be ideal.  It's about 25 acres.  Walking distance to light rail & rail trail, just off I77, and is bordered by Southside community park.  Maybe a quasi Meck County/private partnership could get the job done.  The property owner can get a tax write off by donating the property, with naming rights of course, to the County.

 

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27 minutes ago, elrodvt said:

If they do this and it's not walkable to uptown or on the blue line it's a mistake. For comparison the Denver Zoo is 80 acres. 15 sounds rinky dink.

Walkable to uptown or the Blue Line is very unlikely (and frankly that feels a little arbitrary).  I think that it should be accessible to streetcar or light rail but not necessarily that particular line.  Good luck finding 80 acres or more that is walkable to uptown...

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3 hours ago, elrodvt said:

i didn't meant to say Blue Line. There is no where within a 30 minute walk to get that size plot? Not arguing I have no idea.

There is a decent plot next to Carolina Golf Club and of course Eastland.  They are both close but not walkable and neither is currently accessible by rail.  Carowinds and USNWC are both far from Uptown and obviously are thriving.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know I'm late to the conversation, but looking at a satellite view of the BLE, something dawned on me in relation to this thread. I'm not saying I don't like the idea of using the Eastland Mall land. I think that's a great idea. However, I feel there is still a larger area (depending on where property lines really are) directly on the BLE that could be repurposed.

Eastway Park has plenty of open space, but also has a very well preserved canopy. The big bonus is that it has the Old Concord station at its doorstep. Having a zoo there could help revitalize the entire Northpark Mall area probably more than the light rail will. The existing fields in the park could be used for facilities or larger exhibits while the wooded areas could be used for smaller exhibits using the provided natural shade already in place. It would be smack dab right between University and NoDa and would be a very quick jaunt up the light rail from Uptown.

They could reallocate the lost public space to neighboring Briarwood park, which needs a lot of love anyway.

As for an aquarium. When the time comes for Charlotte to inevitably replace the Convention Center down the road, I have the perfect idea for how to repurpose the current building... just sayin.

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