City takes first step to get out of the zoo, aquarium businesses

The City of Dallas is finally doing something it should have done a long time ago -- taking the first step to get out of the zoo business. Or at least it will try to. The plan, which would turn over the operations (but not the ownership) of the zoo to the Dallas Zoological Society, is scheduled to be briefed to the City Council on Wednesday. If approved, turning the zoo's operations over to the DZS is expected to save the city more than $16 million during the next five years. The city has a similar contract in place for the management of the Arboretum.

Eight or so years ago, when the city was going through budget nightmares similar to what it is experiencing now, I was on the fourth floor at City Hall late one night and the only other person around was then City Manager Ted Benavides. I suggested to him that evening he could solve a lot of his budget woes by getting the city out of the zoo business. He looked at me as though I had just sentenced him to die in front of the city council firing squad and, thinking back on it now, I probably had. My idea was far more draconian than the one the city is proposing now. My recommendation was just to shutter the whole operation and merge it with the superior Fort Worth Zoo and re-brand that one as a regional attraction. Kinda like what we did with Jonestown: We let Arlington go all the expense to build the thing but it is still going to be the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

This option going before council committee Wednesday, while not as economically beneficial as my original idea, is more politically realistic.

Page 22 of the briefing suggests the operation of the Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park is also part of the deal (I think). I find the wording of the first two bullets on that page rather confusing, however.