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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Giovanni Santana, Superintendent of Parks & Recreation
Dan Powell, Manager Phillips Park Zoo
DATE: 3/4/2020
SUBJECT:
The Aurora Parks & Recreation Department is requesting City Council approval to apply for a Kane County Grand Victoria Riverboat Grant in the amount of $50,000.
PURPOSE:
Parks & Recreation is seeking a grant from Kane County to assist in the creation of an Educational Area at the Phillips Park Zoo
BACKGROUND:
The Educational Area and Elk Observation Plaza will be constructed on the site of the former Elk Outlook Deck on the Zoo's eastern end. Over time, the condition of the Outlook Deck deteriorated, however, and it was closed in 2018.
Our Grand Victoria Riverboat Grant request would be used to build a new Zoo Educational Area at the Outlook Deck site, while still offering a place to observe the Zoo's magnificent elk herd.
The Educational Area will include a wall for seating and a patio space for groups to gather and for educational presentations. This viewing plaza will be used for tours, talks, and as an educational space for the hundreds of school groups and organizations which visit the Zoo each year.
This area will become the central site for the Zoo's Story Time Reading Sessions and its Sensory Sensitivity Days, when Zoo staff members will encourage visitors to touch animal pelts and bones and antlers. The Zoo also will use the Educational Area as a site for a new day camp program for children. .
DISCUSSION:
We have received vendor estimates of $55,000 for the creation of the new Zoo Educational Area. This includes the Elk Deck Seating Wall, the Observation Area Plaza, and new fencing at the site. Our grant request is for $50,000 from the Kane County Riverboat Grant, with contributions from the Phillips Park Zoo Society and funds in the Parks Department budget to cover the remainder of the cost. The Revenue Account number is 101-4441-337-30-40
and the Expense Account is 101-4441-451-50-50. Zoo...
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