Your Mission Maximized RISK VS. REWARD ZOO AFRICA AREA EXPANSION FEASIBILITY STUDY

Opportunity All investments carry risk. The key to sustained success is identifying which risks are worth taking. Magnetic Hill Zoo (, ), a CAZA-accredited zoo nestled in the rolling hills of scenic , was considering a major investment in a significant expansion to its footprint: a large new habitat-area repre- senting the African zoogeographic zone. Based our extensive track record of conducting feasibility studies for zoos and aquar- iums worldwide, Zoo Advisors was engaged to assess the project’s capital and oper- ating feasibility, in essence determining: (1) whether it could generate enough new revenue to offset its expenses; and (2) what it would cost to construct.

Solution ZA designed a multi-phased approach with long-time partner firm WDM Architects (Wichita, KS). Our first task was to work with the Zoo to refine existing high-lev- el concepts for the project into specific, quantifiable components and phases. We accomplished this during a multi-day site visit with stakeholders including Zoo staff and local officials—city managers for culture, environment, and tourism.

Next, we created a detailed historical model of the Zoo’s operations, layering demo- graphic data to contextualize the visitation within the regional market. The custom unified model demonstrated the Zoo’s recent 5-year operating history and surfaced correlations between operating areas.

Utilizing our proprietary dataset of historical zoo operations, we identified a group of facilities to create a benchmark of comparable zoos and markets. With the project phases as our timeline, we transformed the historical model into a projec- tion that showed, in detail, how every new aspect of the project impact the Zoo’s operations in up-coming years. Concur- rently, WDM Architects provided the capital and structural estimates.

Result ZA and WDM Architects’ work revealed that the proposed project was operationally feasible, as well as a detailed, phased capital estimate to turn the project into a reality. Next steps are a public unveiling of the findings, to be presented by ZA and Magnetic Hill Zoo to its stakeholders, media, and public.

ZOOADVISORS.COM