Wild $56m upgrade

WE DRAW attention today to an ongoing development in the capital city that we feel has become a serious cause for concern.

Udecott officials this week confirmed the Emperor Valley Zoo expansion has a budget of $56,265,878.14, excluding VAT.

That sum is substantial, more so because what’s being “expanded,” for the moment, is not the cramped pens for the animals, but a brand-new two-storey structure, which Udecott is calling a “discovery building,” is going up for visitors.

Inspired, it seems, by the blue emperor butterfly that once roamed the valley where the zoo is located and gave it its name, Udecott says “the footprint of the building was designed in the shape of a butterfly.”

But the only footprint here is one that will be plainly detrimental to the green spaces the zoo abuts, including the Botanic Gardens – where volunteers in recent years have been struggling to encourage the return of native butterflies – and the Queen’s Park Savannah.

According to Udecott, the new building will host, among other things, an exhibition centre, cinema, restaurant, ice cream parlour, conference room, information centre, amphitheatre, children’s play area and a “cutters bar.”

Going up next to all of this is a “multi-storey car park.”

Is the aim to scare the butterflies away?

We are all for the rejuvenation of Port of Spain. We have consistently called for greater attention to be paid to our green spaces.

We are also all for giving children something to do and a space to learn. For so many people, the zoo was a quintessential childhood experience.

But the design of this project seems to be as unsuitable as it is unsubtle.

It is worth asking whether an entity like Udecott, ostensibly geared to tackling urban issues, has the kind of perspective required when it comes to facilities that need to be meticulously designed to fit into a green space – not stand out like an eyesore.

We still do not forgive it for the often-condemned NAPA building on the other side of the Savannah.

And we have not even begun to address the specialist knowledge needed to deal with animal enclosures. Udecott says the new buildings are “part of a master plan.”

It says something that an energy-rich country with a horrible carbon footprint now wishes to spend more than $56 million to effectively deface one of the capital’s most prestigious green spaces, a stone’s throw from President’s House and the carefully tended grounds there.

It also says something that this expenditure is being doled out at a time when the place of a zoo in the city is questionable, especially with our dangerous fireworks problem, and when the educational needs of children have long changed.