Last week, consultants told the BREC that the Baton Rouge Zoo would see over 500,000 people walking through their doors with new renovations. The zoo has remain relatively the same since it opened in 1970 and is planning on having exciting, interactive updates. 
The park talked about moving from their North Baton Rouge location, but the zoo does have the potential to stay where it is. The zoo would remain open during renovations, but this means it would take three times as long to finish and would be completed in 15 years as opposed to five years if they moved. 
Either way, the zoo would cost $110 million to repair, more than the yearly $7 million the BREC receives for renovations and upkeep.
BREC Director of Communications Cheryl Michelet says that the zoo will be built with Baton Rouge citizens in mind as well as with their input.            
“The more we move down this road where we have more answers to what we might be doing, the more input we’ll take,” says Michelet. 
The BREC hopes to come up with a solid plan to present to the public in the next year or two and is hoping to secure the money needed to build the zoo from private funders and grants.