Jackson Jambalaya

A problem with the water meter? Say it ain't so.

Move it or close it has been the apparent answer for the past twenty years. Sadly it has taken this long to finally face the music. Even with the move to the apparent best location in Jackson, a second class zoo may no longer make fiscal sense. The delay in moving to satisfy the "west Jackson community" and so-called black activists who want to keep the zoo where it is no matter what, have made the zoo an irrelevance for most people. Ironically, the Jackson-haters and the Kenuff Stokes crowd may have worked together to insure that Jackson will have no zoo at all!

A confidentiality agreement for the board members? How many public dollars go into the Zoos operation - $950,000 or so ftom the City and a million or so every year from the State? And the board meetings are secret and the members can't talk about it?

Time for the city to either take its property back, or get out of supporting this operation.

While we all know that the Jackson Zoo will never shine in its former glory as long as it is in its present location I desire more information before supporting a move. How are zoos in general fairing? I want to know if other zoos are also suffering from declining revenues and lower attendance. A new location may be good for a while, but if overall zoos are not gaining in popularity but decreasing, then the move will not be a good one. I spent many hours at the zoo as a child and with my children as well. I've taken the grandkids several times too, but it seems interest is waning. Perhaps it is because of all the other activities available to youngsters these days that were not available in the past. This is not only about the location but whether zoos in general are becoming a thing of yesteryear. I don't like it but we must face the real truth before spending huge sums of money on another white elephant.

Typical government answer to water leaks, pot holes and crime.

Let's build something we can't afford.

It would be far more cost effective to try a change in leadership before a change in zoo location. I fear, like with most Jackson 'institutions,' that option is off the table. What is it they say again about repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

Zoos are pretty outdated. The money would be better spent on a workforce training facility or for road repairs.

What public funding does the Zoo get and from what governments?

Those membership numbers don't add up to 2063.

Model it after a mini Nola zoo and it might work at LeFleurs. If New Orleans figured out how to incorporate an oversized splash pad into a zoo experience, then there's no need to reinvent the wheel. Add in the train, a real gift shop and some decent food options scattered throughout the park and it could be a moneymaker. I know of several families who are more than willing to drive the 2 1/2 hours necessary for a memorable family outing. Why force them out of state when their dollars could stay in MS?

The Birmingham zoo is small and nothing special but is clean and in a nice area and attendance goes up every year- over 700,000 last year. The only thing special about that zoo is it’s location and that it’s a cute little zoo. Not sure how some of y’all can say the current location is not the problem when we have issues like wild packs of dogs coming in and eating animals among other obvious issues...

A real money maker??? I guess you are assuming only the intake against the daily operating expenses - not the cost of the land, or the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars required to build it. Or the subsidy for operational costs from the city taxes. Of course, in a good Democrat world, those costs don't count!

If it is a mini-NOLA, all those folks south of Hwy 84 would go to the new aquarium on the coast or to NOLA. Those in north MS would go to Memphis. That leaves only those between Hwy 82 and 84 that are going to travel to this "destination attraction". Far be that enough to support a development as they are suggesting.

No, this project is only so that those that currently control everything about the zoo can continue to have their own little fiefdom, spending other peoples money on their priority, but now doing it with much more of that other people's money.

Forget worrying about the roads, water, sewer, drainage, police, or other necessities of this city; let's build a zoo!!! There's plenty of money - as long as somebody else will poney it up.

And, 1:22, look at the money they make at Zoo Brew. Speaking of NOLA Zoo, why not sell beer year round? Bet those sales alone would generate more money in the next year than birthday parties.

And let's be honest about New Orleans and most of their attractions. They're not in the best neighborhoods either. Were one to make the attraction, well...attractive, folks would go. Period. Try a change in leadership. A fresh set of eyes might make all the difference.

I don't know what everyone is worried about. Once the Zoo moves we can repurpose the site into a hip new urban township with brick sidewalks and blues clubs and loft apartments and a robot parking garage.

We'll call it West Capitol Green.

Two weeks ago, I said this:

Someone has got to stand up and say that regardless of the pedigree, blues music just isn't that big of a draw.

Look at how much they made off Zoo Blues vs Boo at the Zoo Saturday and Ice Cream Safari. Similar attendance but triple the revenue in both cases. And Zoo Brew made almost 5 times the revenue with half the number of attendees!

No matter how cool people think the blues is, it's a piss poor money maker. Jackson needs to dump its love affair with the blues. If they had promised seventeen ice cream parlors, Farish Street would be Beale Street by now.

1:50 - another great comparison; kinda like the Riverside zoo. You state that the Birmingham zoo is a 'Cute... little zoo". Well, it is FIVE TIMES as large as the proposed new zoo location for Jackson. So, if Birmingham is nothing special, cute, little - then I guess this proposed deal for Jackson will be miniscule?

And not said but important to note, the Birmingham metro area has more than twice the population of the Jackson metro area (five county area).

Of note is the minor detail that a decade or so ago Birmingham privatized the zoo. I'm sure that would work in Jackson; well, maybe not. Kennuf and Derrick would of course want to insure that an AA group received the majority of the ownership, with no input.

Location, Location, move it!!!

Love your poll, KF. Just like a good push poll should be - you want ice cream on your cake, or do you want castor oil?

Move the zoo, or not? Never mind the details. How about: you want to move the zoo and pay an additional $xxx in taxes to pay for the move, or would you prefer that taxes be spent on roads, water and sewer?

Yes. Yes. Let's move it! Get it out of that hell hole. Oh...I've got to pay for it with my taxes? Add that little detail and the shut it down numbers will jump.

2:51--and let Malachi handle the financial details....

There have bee 2 animal exhibits, orangatun and I believe giraffes, that were lost when experts determined that the animals could receive better care elsewhere. Move it here, move it there, keep it, I don’t care about any of that. If the zoo isn’t providing the best care possible for the animals, shut it down and send the animals to better zoos or better yet sanctuaries and preserves. Such beautiful creatures don’t deserve to be oodled at by Jackson’s future carjackers.

2:48 There's nothing wrong with Blues music when it's in the proper context. The Blues goes well with bourbon and sprite not ice cream and cake. I agree that an event attracting parents with their kids, like a zoo visit, probably won't be made into an effective fund raiser by blues music. In that regard I agree. But down home blues and Jack Daniels get my money every time...

The price tag for a move is between 50-75 million dollars. No way that makes sense! Leave it where it is or close it.

4:15 - that is probably a low estimate. Many have suggested in previous discussions that it will exceed $100 million. No matter, even at $50, its a ridiculous expenditure for the City, the County, the State, or any combination of the above.

I would hate to see the Jackson zoo close - but I cannot give a good reason for that. I have not been to the zoo for almost 20 years which looking at the attendance numbers appears to be the same situation as many other citizens in the metro area.

Yes, the zoo is a nice amenity and one that we should be proud of. But when I used to take my kids and others to the zoo, there were way fewer activities for kids that could provide them with a fun and interesting experience.

Today, I've carried my grandkids to the aquarium in NOLA; to Natural Science Museum in Jackson multiple times; to ballparks throughout the south; and various children's museums here and elsewhere. Then of course there are commercial venues designed for their entertainment - bounce houses, trampoline parks, skate rinks, etc. and neighborhood parks every nice weekend.

If the zoo moved - yes, might carry them there once or twice over the ensuing ten years. But would it cause a trip for the purpose of the zoo? Hell no. When in DC have gone to the National Zoo, if for no other reason than to see the pandas. But for a limited exhibit zoo - no elephants, no giraffes, etc - why make that trip?

Maybe they should close it and buy a new choo choo to truck people back and forth to the Audubon Zoo on the rails. They could serve ice cream on the train and have a blues band in a car.

12:50 is probably the first person to check any numbers on that report in the last ten years.

Polls have been taken to see how many are in favor of new zoo location.

Have polls been taken to see how many are in favor of closing the zoo?

I am in favor of it closing and for the animals to be relocated to beautiful zoos in cities where zoos are well attended and the animals receive wonderful care.

The cost of relocation is outrageous when you look at other needs that need to be taken care of in Jackson.

Zoo! Zoo! Jackson can not afford roads much less a Zoo. Days of having nice thing are long gone and will not return.

Take a look at the financial statements and see if you don't notice anything weird.

I give up. Please tell us

You explained half of the utilities varience, but what’s the reason for the other $250k variance in utilities?

Yeah what kind of number is it when you ADD assets and liabilities together? Things are probably much worse with that kind of accounting?

And what’s the $3.6M long-term liability to Jackson water & sewer?

@9:45, I’m no accountant, but I’m pretty sure that Net Assets are the non-profit equivalent to Shareholders’ Equity on a Balance Sheet.

10:40...supposed to be. But take another look.

Hard to know where to start;so many things that do not look right.

City of Jackson Water & Sewer?

What's the $215,000 Due to Improvement Fund that was not budgeted? Did the zoo have to borrow from money designated for improving the zoo facilities to fund operating expenses to keep the doors open?

The zoo could be a tremendous educational asset to the Metro. There are a number of colleges here and many who homeschool plus lots of private and parochial venues. We'll leave JPS out since they wouldn't be interested in my proposal.

But, here's what's being entirely overlooked...A tremendous sociology teaching opportunity for all scholars. Take classes to the zoo and bus them around the perimeter and hold classes under the oaks with a side trip on the old zoo train. Lecture students and let them see first hand how society has crumbled everywhere within miles of this facility - How a once bustling, productive city has turned into a desolate dump populated and frequented by derelict, addicts, the unemployed and those satisfied to do nothing all day long and let it hit home how the zoo is the nucleus, the epicenter, literally ground-zero.

Imagine a really good sociology professor lecturing groups of eager school children on the failures of society at this location and how failure impacts all of us in society....and why it matters.

Then classes, entire schools, could break off into focus groups and discuss what evil led to this decline, this death of an entire fifty block area.

Even charging just a dollar a head for busloads of school kids and college students would make the Jackson cash registers sing year round. Hell, even the National Guard could use this as a learning experiment. The possibilities are virtually limitless. Wait, I almost forgot to mention guest speakers; Stokes, Jerry Mitchell, Lou Mumba, Eudora Welty...wait, scratch that...William Winter, Marshal Ramsey, an endless list of talented folk.

What better place for a Zoo than in the Zoo we now call" West Jackson"? If anyone has ridden down Riverside lately, they would not dare drive their kids to the new planed Zoo location. Would it be possible to move the Zoo to a more suitable location, like somewhere near the State Capitol building where the legislature meets for their annual Zoo like sessions.