DES MOINES, Iowa — The Des Moines Urban Design and Planning Board has approved the Blank Park Zoo’s plans for expansion. The zoo started fundraising in April as a part of its ‘Expand the Impact’ campaign seeking $18 million to build two new exhibits.
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So far Blank Park Zoo has raised three-fourths of its fundraising goal. Anne Shimerdla, the President and CEO of the Blank Park Zoo, said that they are soon to announce a groundbreaking date.
“We’re waiting on those final project costs and our final drawings to be complete before we can make that decision to move forward. And we’d like to be a little bit closer to our fundraising goal. And so as soon as those pieces start to fall in place, we’ll be able to hopefully announce a groundbreaking and then really talk to the community about what they’re going to be seeing and how that’s going to impact everyone, everything around here,” Shimerdla said.
The zoo hopes to have construction on the new exhibits finished by the end of 2026.