CASE STUDY: LOUISIANA PURCHASE ZOO
Like many of our small and mighty zoos, the Louisiana Purchase Zoo (aka Monroe Zoo) is a city-owned facility in a small, economically challenged town. Despite its penetration doubling the city population, the Zoo barely breaks 100,000 in attendance annually, indicating a relatively small dedicated group of repeating zoogoers. After visiting the Zoo and the surrounding areas, it’s apparent the zoo suffers from a common issue: the perception of being in the “bad part of town.” The reality is the location of this zoo, while not in a particularly affluent neighborhood by any means, is not actually the problem. It’s located fairly centrally to the city of Monroe and the more affluent West Monroe, and the park in which it sits, seems well maintained, clean, and wide-open visually. Being in the bad part of town is really just an easy excuse hiding the real problem: the zoo just isn’t appealing.
Unlike some southern zoos who are considering a literal move (relocating the zoo to an entirely new location for a variety of reasons--see Jackson Zoo or Baton Rouge Zoo), the bold move in which Louisiana Purchase Zoo is in need is one that is strategically figurative.
Today’s Louisiana Purchase Zoo is large—over 80 developed acres, with a minuscule budget of under $2 million. With a solid staff and extremely diverse animal collection, the Zoo isn’t left with any money for capital investment. And it shows. The zoo clearly has a hard time keeping up with daily maintenance, and the aging structures are only getting older, which means the quick fixes keeping the zoo together now, will not cut it in the upcoming years. I want to be clear here: the animals appear to be well-cared for. The priority is the animals. The habitats are, for the most part, large, complex, and often surrounded by natural buffers. Animals appear to have access to back of house facilities and choices of where to go and how to interact with each other and the guests.
What’s not working here are the people spaces. Boardwalks are splintering and post caps are falling off. Old signs are crooked and droopy. Paint is peeling, sidewalks are busted and full of trip hazards. Buildings that are clearly failing and not in use are just sitting empty and deteriorating instead of being demolished. Even those things that are not failing, give a perception of a patchwork nature, of stretching the lifespan beyond feasibility, of using whatever is available to “make it work.” The entry is extremely outdated and feels really sketchy despite the bright colors and attempt at improvements. I noted that the design of railings at one habitat viewing area changes three times!
Despite all of this, there is hope! The animal collection is world-class. The bald eagle habitat is huge, the rheas live in a marshland, and the warthog habitat is truly a habitat—in fact, probably the most interesting one I’ve ever seen. The tiger loves to swim! The lions are playful, talkative, and engage with guests. You can hear the gibbons yelling at each other around the grounds. But the best thing? The boat safari!
Yes, I said boat safari!!
Louisiana Purchase Zoo has a spring fed bayou, and from the comfort of a covered pontoon boat, guests get a narrated 20-minute tour of animals living along the banks. Floating under pedestrian bridges and train trestles, the boat is deeply integrated into the zoo site. From the boat, guests see bison, baboons, spider monkeys, Mediterranean donkeys, Arabian oryx, white, brown, and pink backed pelicans all under the gorgeous draping branches of live oaks and between the knees of cedar trees. It is a truly special experience that should put the LPZ on the national zoo map.
But alas, the rest of the zoo just doesn’t live up to that experience. And, frankly, I’m confused about who the zoo is. Why is it named the Louisiana Purchase Zoo? Nothing about the name describes the experience inside. The zoo has a Louisiana Purchase section with a few signs, but the storytelling is not strong. If you know me, you know this is where I’d start with finding a strategy for success.
In fact, I’d start by making the tough decision to make the zoo smaller. It’s simply just spread too thin right now. Select the species that tell a story—start with the obvious. The Louisiana species; the North American species. Then choose those key species that are compelling or favorites, like the tigers and lions. There are stories that can be told that tie to history and culture that bring these exotics into the fold. The current zoo director, Joe Clawson, is a bevy of historical knowledge and he told me a story about a French explorer who wrote that he saw a ‘tiger’ in Louisiana! Certainly, it wasn’t a tiger, but that’s a cool story that makes sense to justify tigers in the context of Louisiana Purchase!
Make the zoo smaller, focus improvements on that smaller section and the entry, improve perceptions, improve engagement, improve circulation (which I didn’t even touch on!). Then enhance that boat ride to be the blockbuster, regional and national draw that it should be. The new train adds revenues today, but the existing gift shop and snack stand need drastic upgrades which I’m sure will improve per caps--which allow continued improvements.
Right now, I don’t believe the zoo has much of a future. There is no way it can continue to maintain the diverse collection on the huge site with zero investment. It is barely operating with band-aids right now, but those band-aids are soon going to fall off. Then what? The city certainly can simply re-invest in the minimum to clean things up. But, I think what the community needs, is a bold move. They need something that makes the surrounding neighborhood residents have pride and some ownership of the zoo. They need something that is so good that there isn’t an excuse not to visit. Band-aids and deferred maintenance will not cut it.
