The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens showed off its new, soon-to-open entrance Friday — an impressive structure that’s 25,000 square feet and 50 feet tall at the highest peak.
Zoo CEO Jeff Ettling said the zoo will put the VyStar SkyScape to good use:
“We can put about 1,000 people under here in the pouring rain,” Ettling said as he showed off the structure. “We had an event here a couple weeks ago (with Australian conservationist Robert Irwin) where we had 760 people seated comfortably. So we know what the capacity is. We can do another 200 upstairs in our event center. So, for us, this is not just a way to provide an entrance for our guests, but it’s also a way for us to generate revenue to help support our mission.”…