No, not the Lane Train but the train at the Jackson Zoo. The Jackson City Council voted unanimously to terminate the contract with Big Mokey Trains of Arkansas yesterday.
The City Council approved the contract in January. Deputy City Attorney told Mayor John Horhn the company had allowed its insurance to lapse and had not made repairs to the track. The city notified the vendor of the contract cancellation on December 2. Big Mokey has 60 days to remove its assets from the zoo.
Big Mokey owner Phyllisha Simpson told WLBT:
Simpson explained because of changes in rules for amusement insurance policies. She also said that she wasn’t making enough money at the zoo to cover premium costs. As part of its contract, Big Mokey received 50% of proceeds from ticket sales. Tickets were $3 per person. “The last three years, insurance kept increasing. This year, it would have increased to where it would be more than what we could generate from ticket sales,” she said. “That wasn’t plausible.” Simpson tells 3 On Your Side she reached out to other providers, who advised her that the city should be providing the insurance, not Big Mokey. The train also couldn’t run for an extended period after the city took over the zoo, because crews damaged the tracks while attempting to remove vegetation. “They cut it and damaged the track,” she said. “The train sat there for a year... and I’m paying insurance on it.” Simpson confirmed she offered to sell the train to the city for $90,000. “If you buy a new one, it would be over $100,000,” she said. Rest of article.
It appears it's not happening at the Jackson Zoo.
36 comments:
Why won't they just close it down? Why is it so hard to make the correct decision?
Way to go Ward 7! You elected another political egg noodle.
Parkinson is not sure what the decision will mean for the future of the zoo, saying that “there needs to be a lot of energy put into reimagining what the zoo could look like.”
“I get frustrated when I hear two arguments - close the zoo entirely or keep doing everything [the way] we’ve been doing it for decades,” he said. “There has to be a fresh approach about how we can continue to invest in this important Jackson landmark, while acknowledging the current state of affairs.”
Please look at transferring those poor, malnourished, and sad animals somewhere where they can be treated humanely, and that certainly is not the Jackson zoo.
oooohhh the humanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Millennial here.
I have fond childhood memories of riding that train as a child in the 80s. I’m grateful to be old enough to remember a time when most of Jackson was still pretty good. Though I remember being told there were “bad places” even back then. Sad that I couldnt take my children tobthe Zoo or my new grandchild.
That’s right, millennials have grandchildren now!
When have Democrats ever made the correct decision?
“there needs to be a lot of energy put into reimagining what the zoo could look like.”
Someone else who apparently thinks more hopium will get it done for Jackson.
Disgusting state of affairs regarding the Zoo. It needs to be put out of its misery.
Just close the dam zoo!
The zoo could had should had been moved years ago. Now it’s too little too late. Close the zoo
Parkinson is Exhibit A why you can't elect liberals at the local level where there are limited resources. You can't have leaders who don't live in reality, and it is clear Parkinson wouldn't recognize reality even if it were slapping him in the face.
"Simpson tells 3 On Your Side she reached out to other providers, who advised her that the city should be providing the insurance, not Big Mokey."
No, those other carriers didn't want to deal with it....
They had a chance to move it near the children museum but didn’t It would had worked The area it’s in makes Sanford and son look like Beverley hills!
@2:20 PM If democrats made correct decisions, they wouldn't be democrats.
I have reimagined the zoo where Lumumba is sentenced to 20 years and will be housed on the island with the moat, so he can ponder how he was incapable of getting a simple leak fixed while being a draw for visitors to increase revenue. The sign will read “The destroyer of Jackson “.
Oh, the huge manatee.
"Reimagining" A left wing/progressive buzz-word.
The gutters literally in front of the Zoo were littered with dirty needles when Dale Danks was mayor. Raze the whole thing should have happened then.
I have a family member who drove tanks in Iraq. Was hit by an RPG outside of Abu Ghraib prison. He was driving through Jackson on I-20 on the way to Shreveport a few years ago and told me he was stopping at the zoo. I tried to tell him no. He eventually told me W Capitol looked worse that post-combat Baghdad. So yeah, I don't think the zoo is coming back. The City leaders have somehow equated keeping the zoo in bombed out zombie land with fighting for their race. Just close it; use the money somewhere else.
2:11 for today's win! The poor animals are living a shitty existence as a result of decisions made by shitty humans.
Nail in the coffin
Hat tip to the mention of Simon & Garfunkel in the article's last line.
Open swimming back up, just hire a few lifeguards and sell crickets to anybody that would rather fish…
The train was a great thing back in the 1990s when Walter Hazelrigg was the engineer. Was shocked to hear it was even still around, with only a few hundred people going to the zoo each year now.
One more good reason to stay out of Jackson, and especially the zoo area.
I agree
@5:51 & 8:21 Well, no sane person would drive down W Capitol St... But East Jackson has plenty of great restaurants and stores to enjoy! Some Beautiful homes and neighborhoods too. Feel free to live a little!
East Jackson?
Nope. East Jackson is in Rankin County .
Yes, East Jackson, like all of that East of State Street... You know where the roads start having an "E" in front of them? Hope this helps.
Parkinson drove that charter school straight into the ground. Why would the voters of ward 7 think he could lead their district?
Retire the zoo. I can't understand crazy. No money for basic things, no relationship with dope dealers which will eliminate 95% of city workforce and 90% of council members. We're doomed!
Santa, I have one Christmas wish.
Please get those remaining animals out of that hell on earth Zoo.
We don't need to do anything . At the rate the animals are dying off as they get old, collection will be down to 75 animals or less in a few years.
KF, visitors per year will also be down to 75 or less in a few years, if not sooner.
Discontinuing the train now. Animals to follow. Maybe the city can develop an upscale community with golf course on all that acreage that was Jackson Zoo & City Park. Although the “tiny house” project behind Calvary Baptist has gone nowhere. The townhouses and small homes closer to downtown have been exceptionally successful.
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