Tampa zoo planning $125M expansion with link to Hillsborough River - Tampa Bay Times

Coming someday to ZooTampa at Lowry Park: lions, jaguars, sea lions and a whole lot more manatees. Plus a direct link to the Hillsborough River, through which guests may one day be able to arrive at the zoo by river taxi.

Those are among the highlights of a new 20-year, $125 million expansion project that zoo leaders are developing with Tampa officials, and that the zoo plans to present to city leaders soon.

The project would include expanded African and Asian habitats and a new South American habitat on the grounds of the park’s maintenance facilities, nestled within Lowry Park across North Boulevard.

“Our plans are going to revitalize that area, but we made a conscious effort not to intrude on the green space of the park itself,” ZooTampa CEO and president Joe Couceiro said. “We’re going to be enhancing the public access to the land that’s currently taken up by the maintenance facility. This is still a work in progress with the city, as far as the details surrounding that relocation. But that’s where the expansion is going to be.”

This rendering shows a proposed water taxi arrival area by Tampa's Lowry Park, part of a planned 20-year, $125 million expansion of ZooTampa at Lowry Park. [ ZooTampa at Lowry Park ]

The long-term project will begin with two developments already underway: An expanded interactive stingray exhibit slated to open next year, and an expanded manatee rehabilitation and care center expected to open by 2026.

After that, the zoo will open an exhibit dedicated to the wildlife of South America, including jaguars, sea lions and giant river otters.

“Due to our temperate climate, we’re one of the few zoos in the country that can really house these species that are native to South America without putting them indoors,” Couceiro said.

This rendering shows a proposed South American sea lion habitat at ZooTampa at Lowry Park. [ ZooTampa at Lowry Park ]

Guests will be able to enter ZooTampa through the South America side via a new entrance along Lowry Park, which would have shops, eateries and an entertainment space accessible to the public. A skybridge across North Boulevard would connect the eastern Lowry Park side to the rest of ZooTampa.

Eventually, the zoo will build out its African area by adding lions, a gorilla habitat and creating a new multispecies space for elephants, giraffes and white rhinos as well as its Asian habitats for orangutans and tigers. One eventual experience that Couceiro highlighted: the opportunity to camp out overnight in “cabana-like facilities” near the lion enclosure, “a unique and distinct offering that other zoos, as far as I’m aware, do not offer.”

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This rendering shows a proposal for a redeveloped African habitat at ZooTampa. [ ZooTampa at Lowry Park ]

The zoo, like Lowry Park, sits on city-owned land, and would need city partnership for expansion. Couceiro said zoo leaders have been discussing the project with development officials for a year and a half. Zoo officials had planned to present a proposal for the expansion at Thursday’s City Council meeting, but Couceiro said they would seek individual meetings with members instead.

“ZooTampa is a community treasure, and we look forward to reviewing the parts of the proposed expansion that require City of Tampa approval,” Tampa administrator for development and economic opportunity Nicole Travis said in a statement.

The zoo plans to seek both public and private financing for the project, Couceiro said. The zoo is largely self-funded, he said, and will also use money from its own coffers.

“We have a long way to go, but we feel that over the next 20 years, $125 million is doable,” he said. “It’s something that I think we can live with, as far as return on investment.”

A proposed South American river otter habitat. [ ZooTampa at Lowry Park ]

The announcement comes just four months after another Tampa wildlife institution, the Florida Aquarium, announced a major expansion of its own, a $40 million project that will include new habitats for sea lions, puffins and African penguins.

“We don’t really compete; we complement each other,” Couceiro said. “We already have some things that they have. We have penguins, they have penguins. We have stingrays, they have stingrays. I don’t think the fact that we may have some duplicate species impacts us in any way.”

The aquarium expansion is expected to run into 2025. With a 20-year timeline, ZooTampa’s expansion will run until 2042, when many younger guests today may be returning with kids of their own.

“Yes, it’s a long horizon, but we have steps along the way that we have planned out to make sure that we’re not resting on our laurels or looking too far into the future,” Couceiro said. “We want to make sure we deliver an experience that at the present provides the type of value that Tampa residents and visitors alike are looking for and can take advantage of.”