6 I BUSINESS JOURNAL NEWS NETWORK I JANUARY 7, 2019 CNYBJ.COM HISTORY FROM OHA A Wild Journey: An Abbreviated History of the Syracuse Zoo Today’s Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse has experienced more than a cen- tury of iterations. Its home, Burnet Park, was born from a merger between the Town of Geddes and the City of Syracuse in 1886.

BY KAREY Y. COONEY dergoing a massive update, but funding could not be secured. The Children’s Won- The Town of Geddes wished to become derland required cleanup and repair. Again, part of Syracuse in order to benefit from a improvements were made but continued paid police force, fire protection, and the funding was becoming difficult to obtain. soon-to-be installed water line from Ska- Vandalism was prevalent, including the re- neateles Lake. John Burnet, a major land- leasing of animals from their cages, killing owner in Geddes, offered to sweeten the of animals, and theft and destruction of zoo merger by giving the City nearly 125 acres property. A local businessman formed an of his hilltop farm land for a park. The Burnet organization to investigate the option of family stipulated the land always be used as purchasing property north of the city and a park and that it should be named Burnet establishing a new state of the art zoo. City Park. They also requested that $10,000 be set of Syracuse and Onondaga County officials aside annually to be used to purchase trees were divided in their opinions, but it was and maintain roads and lawns. An additional generally felt that the zoo should remain in A cartoon from a 1931 newspaper.

$3,000 per year was to be used for general Burnet Park. COLLECTION OHA CREDIT: PHOTO upkeep and improvements. Finally, the en- The Friends of the Zoo was formed in tranceways to the park off Milton Avenue 1970 and they secured funding to enlarge and S. Wilbur Avenue were to be paved. Ini- the zoo to 18 acres, build a fence to enclose tially the park was used for bandstand con- the space, include a boardwalk that tra- certs, walks, and picnics — followed by the versed through a portion of the property, construction of a golf course in 1901. and establish a Western Plains habitat. Vari- Area citizens had lobbied for a zoo for ous directors had come and gone, adding to many years before one was actually con- the difficulties. In April 1975, the zoo adopt- structed. As early as 1898, a local alderman ed a nonprofit status and it was suggested announced that a gentleman had offered that a minimal admission be charged for at to build and stock a zoological department least a portion of the year. Plans were once in a south end park if the city would take again made to expand and modernize the steps to fix up the land properly. It was facility. The Friends of the Zoo developed determined that all necessary funds could a membership drive to facilitate this goal. be generated with help from the public; John Mulroy, Onondaga County Executive, however, this plan never advanced. But in initially vetoed using county funds to sup- 1914, the city put aside four acres for use as plement city funding, but eventually came a zoo in Burnet Park when a group of citi- to an agreement with the Onondaga Coun- zens headed by W. W. Wiard of the Syracuse ty Legislature to set aside money to finance Chilled Plow Co. bought the remnants of a renovations. In 1977 the county officially traveling circus company. Two years later, took over the responsibility of running the a stone-based exhibit space was designed zoo from the city. By 1980, improvements for the bears and a pond dug for the water- were once again made by expanding the fowl. The animals kept at the zoo were var- Plains exhibit and beginning development ied with many procured through generous of a North East Woods exhibit. However, the COLLECTION OHA CREDIT: PHOTO A group of children from Delaware School on a tour of the zoo. donations by prominent local citizens. In animals continued to reside in bare, dingy 1933, the zoo doubled in size with the ani- cages of inadequate size. These conditions mals residing in small barred cages as was inhibited reproduction efforts — forcing original buildings were torn down with the In 1998, a capital campaign was begun common during that era. The animals were the zoo to purchase additional animals. Vis- exception of the main building which was to pay for the construction of a new con- there strictly for the public’s viewing pur- itors also complained about the odor and incorporated into the new design. The zoo servation education center and tiger and poses. No attention was given to providing general cleanliness of the exhibit areas. reopened to great fanfare in August 1986. rainforest exhibits. The Rosamond Gifford an environment or setting that would re- In 1982, a $7.5 million renovation was The final cost of renovation was $12.8 mil- Foundation offered an endowment gift flect the animal’s normal living conditions. begun. The community was asked to pro- lion and it involved more than seven years of $2 million in 1999. This resulted in the In 1955 after receiving an extremely poor vide $1 million in funding with an addi- of planning and preparation. It was a state- changing of the name to Rosamond Gifford review from the local newspaper, efforts tional $2.5 million received from private of-the-art facility considered to be a “new Zoo at Burnet Park. The zoo today contin- were made to improve the animals’ liv- funders. The Rosamond Gifford Founda- breed of zoo” and was only one of a handful ues to flourish and is now proud to say that ing conditions and update the grounds. A tion continued as a generous funder for of zoos designed with several exhibit areas it is continually ranked in the top 10 percent Children’s Wonderland, funded through the the modernization of the facilities as Ms. detailing the evolutionary life stories of the of zoos in the country. n Gifford Foundation, was designed featur- Gifford had been known for her love of ani- zoo’s inhabitants. The new facility also in- ing miniature structures housing a variety mals. The renovation took over three years. cluded classroom and research space. Na- Karen Y. Cooney is support services adminis- of farm animals with which children could During this time, most of the animals were tional accreditation soon followed. trator at OHA in Syracuse. interact. At the same time, additional funds either sold or loaned to other zoos. The were set aside by the city to renovate the waterfowl population was moved to Bea- bear den and construct Monkey Island. ver Lake Nature Center in Lysander while Unfortunately, these improvements seven elk, seven bison, three wolves, a yak were short-lived, and by the early 1960s, and a llama remained in residence because the zoo was again criticized for its appear- they were either unable to be sold, too old ance. Various mayors had discussed un- to move, or of good breeding stock. All the PHOTO CREDIT: OHA COLLECTION OHA CREDIT: PHOTO The Zoo in the early 1930s.