Zoo Starts Master Planning For The Future

Mill Mountain Zoo's iconic train may also be in for an upgrade that will make it more reliable.
Mill Mountain Zoo’s iconic train may also be in for an upgrade that will make it more reliable.

During a private reception held for board members and other supporters, Mill Mountain Zoo executive director Lucy Cook gave a power point presentation on the state of the hilltop zoo: pretty good at this point Cook said, with debt being paid down and staff being fleshed out over the past year.

Cook came on board about a year ago after relocating from upstate New York; she has long had family in the Roanoke area and has visited the valley often.

Cook also outlined the master planning underway with the help of two outside consultant groups, defining where Mill Mountain Zoo should be headed over the next decade – perhaps even a name change; Virginia Wild at Mill Mountain Park was one early option displayed on the power point.

A shift towards more species from the Appalachian region and more collaboration with local educational institutions are also on Cook’s to-do list.

“[That] will give us a real road map for the future,” said Cook of the master plan process, “everything from a facilities and landscape plan, a collection plan – what type of animals are appropriate –  a fundraising plan , the whole 9 yards. It’s a road map for us.”

2015 was a good year for the zoo, Cook told the reception audience, with two successful matching grant challenges for starters. A master plan post completion later this year – after some public input sessions, according to Cook – will make it easier to budget and raise money as well, she said. “It will give people that visual [about] where we are going.”

Cook hopes to have the completed master plan in place by the beginning of the next fiscal year – July 1. The “dreaming phase” is where the general public and stakeholders will be asked to weigh in; that should happen within the next few months.

As for her first year on the job, Cook termed the state of the zoo “very good and getting better every day.”  The zoo’s location “begs for some cooperative working agreements” in her estimation. The location next to the iconic Mill Mountain Star brings many people from the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as the locals coming up for a view. “I really see us as kind of a hub.”

Exhibits of more animals native to this part of the country are high on Cook’s potential list of changes. “Which is what we really want to start looking at.” Conservation as a theme is also in the mix for the “new” zoo that Cook envisions.

Not to mention upgrades to buildings and even the venerable Zoo Choo – which isn’t always running and relies on outdated equipment in many cases. If families knew the miniature train ride was sure to be in operation perhaps they would be quicker to head up the mountain for another trip to the zoo.

Recruited over a year ago to replaces former executive director Ray Corriea, she is “thrilled to be here. Roanoke’s been my second home for 40-some odd years,” said Cook, who called Mill Mountain Zoo “so well loved.”

She and the board of directors are hoping that future changes, after the master plan is completed, will have more people returning to the zoo on a more regular basis.

By Gene Marrano

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