The Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation presented a check for $325,000 to Santa Fe College President Paul Broadie II and Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo Director Jonathan Miot to support enhancements at the zoo, according to an April 23 announcement. The funds will go toward improvements outlined in the zoo’s recently unveiled 10-year master development plan.
The annual Wild Game Feast, organized by the Rotary Clubs of Gainesville since 1985, raises money for community charities and was held this year at the Rotary Conservation Area at Hatchett Creek. This year’s grant is intended to help create an Elevated Treehouse System and Learning Center, unique outdoor educational spaces, an immersive multi-level play structure, and provide better support for the animals at the zoo.
“We’re really excited to support that amazing organization,” Feast Master Guy Jopling said. “It’s more than just a treehouse; it’s really an opportunity for kids to have a learning space and experience different views of the zoo.”
The Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo is noted as being the only zoo on a college campus accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The facility covers ten acres and houses more than seventy species of animals. It is maintained by approximately one hundred students enrolled in Santa Fe College’s Zoo Animal Technology program.
Each year about seventy thousand visitors come to events hosted by the zoo, including Boo at the Zoo during Halloween which draws between five thousand and seven thousand people.
