The future of Saint John’s Cherry Brook Zoo is on the agenda for Tuesday’s city council meeting.
The city is the zoo’s main financial supporter and staff hope more money will be approved to keep the zoo operating.
“We’re on a skeleton budget right now, doing OK, getting by, but little more would help pay the bills,” says the zoo’s board chair, Alison O’Neill.
The City of Saint John has given the zoo $60,000 over the past few years, but this year they are asking for $40,000 more.
“The submission on this week’s council kit, they are asking for $100,000,” says Coun. Bill Farren. “That will go to the budget deliberations and we’ll see what comes out of that.”
Farren isn’t certain whether council will be able to give more money to the zoo, but he says it is important to the city.
“The zoo is a very important aspect of any community, same as a lot of the other things in the city,” he says. “It’s just a very important selling tool for us as councillors, to help attract more residents and business to the community, to keep everyone here instead of going out west. So, I mean, it’s one of those things we need to keep and try to support.”
Financial support for the zoo comes from events held in Saint John and the neighbouring community of Rothesay.
The zoo celebrated its 40th anniversary this year and workers hope that with the city’s continued financial support, it will celebrate another 40 years.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ashley Dunbar
