Duluth zoo fights for survival as new leader takes over

DULUTH – After 97 years of promoting conservation and protecting at-risk species, the Lake Superior Zoo is itself nearing endangered status.

Hit hard by the pandemic and now facing a loss of up to $180,000 this year, newly appointed CEO Haley Cope is launching an aggressive fundraising campaign to keep the region's only zoo afloat and growing.

"It's going to be absolutely critical that we see our supporters really come out and stand next to the zoo so that we can ensure we're here for generations to come," she said.

In normal times this would be a boom year for the zoo — attendance is up, a $4 million bear exhibit is nearly complete, wolves are on the way and a nature-based preschool opens this fall, Cope said.

But just as soon as the 30-year-old took the reins earlier this month she had to go before the Duluth City Council to ask for an extra year to pay back $247,000 owed on a line of credit.

"There is no one silver bullet when it comes to closing the gap," Cope said at Monday's meeting. "We continue to do everything we can to advocate not only on behalf of our zoo but for zoos across the country," many of which find themselves in similar situations.

The Lake Superior Zoo is run by an independent nonprofit, while the city owns the land the zoo sits on and provides tourism tax support for its operations.

Due to a steep drop in tourism tax collections because of the pandemic, the city won't be able to send the zoo $200,000 of the $510,000 previously pledged for this year.

Cope and Arrowhead Zoological Society board President Jonathan Ballmer didn't ask for more city support Monday but warned they are preparing for the worst: permanent closure and the relocation of all 350-plus animals that would cost at least half a million dollars.

"That is absolutely the worst-case scenario, which the board is committed to avoiding at all costs," Ballmer said.

Catching up

As 1-year-old Paizlee Sanchez peered through the window at Tundra and Banks, the zoo's two Alaskan Brown bears, Cope looked on and smiled.

"This is our mission happening in real time," she said.

Since it reopened in June nearly 20,000 people have visited the zoo, many looking for something family-friendly to do outdoors.

"This is the first time we've ever been here," said Jessica Sanchez, Paizlee's mother, who was taking the family on a trip from Austin, Minn., to Ely. "We're just checking out things we haven't seen before."

The zoo was reaching record attendance numbers this winter before the pandemic hit in March, Ballmer said. Now being open only seven hours a day, four days a week, the zoo is reaching 65% of last year's revenue.

Starting the year with a $2.3 million budget, the zoo now has projected expenditures of $1.2 million. The zoo usually employs about 40 people in the summer and about half that total are working now.

Cope, who joined the zoo as its marketing director in January 2018, was named CEO on Aug. 6 with a $60,000 salary. She replaced Erik Simonson, who took over the zoo in 2017 and was paid $100,000 a year before leaving for another job this spring.

The board wanted to hire internally and found Cope's marketing prowess could expand the zoo's horizons while staff could continue to focus on animal care, Ballmer said.

"We have a great leadership team that's helped reposition the zoo over the last couple of years," he said. "We were really blown away with what [Cope] was presenting in terms of a continued evolution."

Cope said the zoo had been in fine financial shape and was prepared to pay back the city's line of credit this fall and start on a capital campaign. Still, the zoo had been playing catch-up even before the pandemic shut the gates.

A major flood in 2012 ruined parts of the zoo and killed several animals. Cope said the organization never received any FEMA money to help rebuild.

"That certainly affected our bottom line for many years," she said.

With the completion of the $4 million bear exhibit later this year, almost entirely paid for by the state and city, the reconstruction following the flood should finally be complete.

Cope said there is still more to do to make the zoo a star attraction — including a new main building to replace the New Deal-era structure that welcomes guests today.

"Post-COVID we want to make sure we expand our indoor capacity," Cope said. "Being able to build out the preschool, add new animals and habitats — we're always looking to add new experiences."

Brooks Johnson • 218-491-6496