SOUTH BEND, Ind.
(AP) - The nonprofit group that’s taken over management of South Bend’s
Potawatomi Zoo is working on plans to build a new red panda exhibit and
front-entrance plaza.
Potawatomi
Zoological Society director Marci Dean says a contractor has been hired to
build the panda exhibit and it should be finished by early April.
Dean tells the
South Bend Tribune that work on the new entrance plaza with more bathrooms
and a carousel is expected to begin next year. The improvement projects are
estimated to cost about $1.3 million.
The South Bend City
Council is paying about $1.2 million to the society this year to manage the
zoo under a 5-year agreement that took effect Jan. 1. The city and the group
are also sharing the cost of planned parking lot improvements.