WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Kit Bond today joined officials from the Saint Louis Zoo and St. Louis-based Wachovia to unveil a new entrance design to the park that will improve the safety of families visiting the Zoo.

 

            “The Zoo is a terrific destination for St. Louis families and visitors to the City,” said Bond.  We want to be sure everyone enjoys the experience from start to finish.  The new entrance is safer for drivers and pedestrians and gives visitors a glimpse through sculpture of the wildlife they will find inside as they enter.”

 

Bond praised the Saint Louis Zoo for being renowned worldwide as a leader in wildlife conservation and research.  In St. Louis, the Zoo is one of the most popular attractions in the City, drawing 3 million visitors a year, and is a highlight of the Forest Park area.

 

Unfortunately, the old entrance to the Zoo doesn’t meet today’s safety or traffic needs.  Currently, the Zoo can be difficult and dangerous to get to for many families.  Under the current configuration, visitors that access the park from the highway make a left turn across a busy street.  Once in the south parking lot, families must cross the same busy street into the Zoo at the street level and must compete with heavy traffic and busses to reach the entrance, a set-up that has resulted in several injuries and traffic incidents. 

 

A few years ago the Zoo asked Bond to help create a safer entrance for visitors, Bond agreed and stressed that a world-class Zoo like St. Louis’ should have a world-class front door.  As the ranking member of the Senate Transportation-Housing Appropriations Subcommittee, Bond secured $5 million for the visitor-safety project in the fiscal year 2006 spending bill. 

 

Thanks to the $5 million in federal funds Bond secured and an additional $2.5 million gifted by Wachovia, the south entrance of the Zoo will be reconfigured.  The design unveiled today details a new entrance to the Saint Louis Zoo which includes a pedestrian bridge up and over the street in order to give families safe access to the zoo entrance.  In addition to the reconfiguration of the entrance infrastructure, today’s announcement includes artistic gifts that will enhance the visual experience for visitors.

 

“While this type of project is not glamorous as the birth of a new zebra cub or leopard, or any of the other exciting things that have happened here recently, it is important to everyone who visits the park, whether they know it or not,” said Bond.  “I am pleased to have played a role in securing funds for improving this local treasure.”

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