ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Seneca Park Zoo is set for a major transformation with a new design for its renovation, including a new Tropics Building. The project has a hefty price tag of $100 million, with taxpayers covering more than half of the cost.

News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke reports on the zoo’s plans to protect its current animal residents during construction.

Most of the construction is set to be done in the front of the zoo. The animals that had habitats there were moved back further into the zoo or sent to other zoos years ago when the building that was there was torn down.

The zoo plans to bring the animals back once construction is complete, but this is still years away. The county is searching for a contractor to bring the new design to life.

David Hamilton, General Curator at Seneca Park Zoo, emphasized the focus on animal welfare during the construction process.

“We would be doing welfare assessments for those animals, checking them out,” he said. “The keepers take wonderful care of the animals and they always have their eye on them and what’s going on with the animals themselves.”

The zoo is also preparing to welcome more than a dozen new animal species once the expansion is complete.

“It’s an especially exciting time for all the keepers,” Hamilton said. “We get to work with some new species, get to work with some new habitats and new setups for everything.”

Hamilton expressed his excitement for certain species, saying, “I would love to get the orangutans back. The lemurs will be great, we have the water exhibits, those aquatic exhibits will be wonderful, if we’re able to add the Asian small, clawed otters to that, that would be wonderful.”

As the expansion progresses, the zoo plans to acquire new animals and train staff with the new species.

“We may send staff to other places to get trained with the new species,” Hamilton explained. “We’ll probably send staff to meet the new animals who are coming in so that they have some kind of basis for what’s going to be happening here.”

The project is still in its early stages. Time-table wise… there’s still a ways to go. The new design is complete, some of the funding is secured, but the county still needs to put the project out to bid and find a contractor who will build it within the $100 million budget.

Best case scenario, the county executive tells News10NBC he’s hoping for a completion date in late 2028, early 2029.

The county will contribute about $35 million, while the state will provide roughly $42 million. The Seneca Park Zoo Society is tasked with raising the remaining funds.

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