(From the Salt Lake Tribune courtesy of Peter Dixon)
When voters approved a $33 million infusion of public cash for the Hogle Zoo in January, they added one rather significant stipulation: Zoo leaders would have to raise $11 million on their own to unlock the cash.
Zoo fundraisers say they had collected the first $7.5 million before the issue went to voters. But then things slowed down. As of March, the zoo remained $2.5 million short, facing a dour economy and a looming deadline.
“Anything on your dresser, in the washing machine, we’ll take it all at this point,” Beth Wolfer, Hogle director of development, said as she handed out elephant-shaped banks to attendees at the March meeting of the Hogle board of directors.
Now, backed by a contribution from an as-of-yet unidentified donor, Hogle officials have alerted the Salt Lake County debt-review committee that they believe they’ve hit the mark. That will trigger an audit of contributions that, if they exceed $11 million, will permit the County Council to approve the issuance of a bond and cut the zoo a check.
Zoo officials declined to offer details, saying the final details of the donation were still being finalized. But several individuals familiar with the donation say it came from a private company with local ties.
“Obviously, it’s someone who feels that the zoo is very important and improvement at the zoo is very important,” said County Councilman Joe Hatch, who said he has a guess as to the donor’s identity but had not been told who.
He called the news “exciting,” saying he was looking forward to the improvements that the zoo will be able to build with the money, including a Arctic habitat, which will be home to several polar bears,.
County Auditor Jeff Hatch said government and zoo officials were still setting a date to hold a debt-review hearing.
“The only real question on the table,” he said, “is whether the pledges, rather than cash already in hand, are secure enough that the county will then say, ‘yes, this is as good as gold.’”
