Detroit Zoo looks to create more parking as visits boom

A lack of parking is sort of a nice problem to have.

Thanks to an influx of visitors at the Detroit Zoo – with more expected when a new penguin center opens in March — the attraction located in Royal Oak is starting to look at building another parking garage, an initiative that could cost $15 million to $20 million, Executive Director Ron Kagan told Macomb County commissioners Tuesday.

The number of guests annually at the zoo is more than 1.3 million — up from 800,000 annually two decades ago — and is expected to grow possibly to 1.5 million or 1.6 million after the opening of the $29.5-million Polk Penguin Conservation Center, the largest project ever undertaken by the zoo, Kagan said.

To help with parking, the zoo signed a three-year contract with Oakland Community College for about 1,100 spots about five blocks away, but Detroit Zoological Society officials recognize the long-term need for more parking.

The zoo could expand its operating hours to help with parking, but that may not make neighbors happy, Kagan said, and that could affect special events held in the evening at the zoo. He said the zoo is looking at all sorts of possibilities, including modular parking garages that are not in use and could be moved to the facility.

“We’re looking at any and every possibility,” he said, adding later that a possible site for a garage could be in front of the zoo's iconic water tower.

The zoo is a regional asset, supported by a 10-year tri-county millage of 0.1 mill, which was approved by voters in 2008. The millage comprises about 30% of the zoo’s $35-million annual budget, Kagan said.

While philanthropy, such as the donation to fund the new penguin center, has grown to support the 125-acre campus, the zoo still has capital infrastructure needs, such as parking, water and sewer, he said.

He told the board during an annual report to the commissioners that zoo society officials will “probably want to go for the renewal” of the millage, though there are still internal talks about that.

“If anything we need more help, not less help," Kagan said. "We have lots of good news, but are like everyone else and faced with challenges.”

He told the board that the zoo is the state’s No. 1 paid tourist attraction with a regional impact of $100 million annually. He said 68% of visitors are from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, with visitors also coming from every county in the state, every state in the U.S. and 40 countries.

Commissioners asked about millages at other zoos, with Kagan telling them that other zoos operate in the “same way or another.”

For example, he said, every accredited zoo in Ohio has a millage. In Toledo, Kagan said, the millage for the Toledo Zoo is “eight times the millage we have.”

Kagan told the board about how the zoo is expanding into Macomb County, including an educational partnership with Warren Consolidated Schools and an effort to expand its hospital outreach for children to McLaren Macomb — an outreach that already is done in Wayne and Oakland counties.

Commissioner Steve Marino told Kagan that of the regional millages, he really has no issues with the one for the zoo and suggested that zoo officials "pop over to the DIA and show 'em how it's done."

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.