By Richard Caines

SALISBURY — The Salisbury Zoo is upgrading its aging infrastructure in the hopes of regaining accreditation while also transforming the South Park Drive facility to bring in more visitors.

More than 300,000 people annually visit the 12.5-acre zoo, which will celebrate 70 years of business in June.

But the zoo sustained damage from December and January weather events, resulting in the Salisbury City Council recently amending its fiscal year 2024 budget to appropriate $50,000 for the zoo’s maintenance fund.

“What happened was our infrastructure failed,” zoo director Chuck Eicholz said. “We had heating units that were installed in the early 1970s and they just failed. And the electrical grid itself has not been updated since then, so we had a lot of electrical stuff that we had to do prior to install the new heating systems.”

Eicholz said portions of the zoo are fed by electrical components installed in the early 1950s when the zoo was built.

“We started a project in the fall,” Eicholz said. “A contractor came in and installed an underground conduit. So, we will be getting brand-new electricity to feed the zoo. And we are hoping by the end of April that will be complete.”

One major focus for Eicholz and his staff at the Salisbury Zoo is regaining accreditation with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. The organization cited the zoo during a 2019 evaluation for not meeting certain industry standards.

“The zoo lost it due to lack of care of the infrastructure as well as we didn’t have a full-time veterinarian on staff,” Eicholz said. “We have one now and a full-time veterinary technician.”

Eicholz said regaining accreditation is a multi-year process and entails an application and multiple inspections. The organization represents more than 235 facilities in the United States and overseas, which collectively draw more than 200 million visitors every year, according to its website.

“The biggest hiccup right now is if we could apply today, we still wouldn’t get it because of our bear exhibits from the 1970s and 1980s,” Eicholz said. He said they plan on breaking ground this fall on a larger exhibit.

But Eicholz said they hope to have the process completed by 2027 as it validates their work of caring for the animals and opens them up to bigger opportunities in the future.
“It’s the gold standard of animal care in the world,” Eicholz said.

“So, when you get that accreditation, you know that everyone visiting us gets that guarantee that we are taking care of the animals. The animals have the best lives that they can have.”

Eicholz said the animals at the zoo are well taken care of. The zoo was recently the home of one of the oldest flamingos in the country.

“He unfortunately just passed away,” Eicholz said. “Old Man was 53 years old. Animals live a long time here and we do take good care of them.”

The zoo is currently going through the organization’s Pathway toward Membership program, in which a coach comes to the zoo to provide advice of what to fix or upgrade and support the facility along the journey of accreditation.

“So far, everything he has told us we’ve done except for the bear exhibit, which we can’t do anything about yet,” Eicholz said.

The zoo does not charge an admission fee for visitors, so it relies on donations as well as grants and funding from the city to take care of its more than 100 animals and maintain the decades-old facility.

“We are currently going through our five-year master plan as we speak and we are evaluating everything that we are going to have here,” Eicholz said. “Over the past ten years, animal care standards have doubled.

“We don’t have a crystal ball but are anticipating those standards years from now. That could include changing some exhibits based on size requirements and expanding the facility.”

Eicholz said the thought of possibly charging an admission fee in the future has entered their minds, but right now they are committed to being a free zoo as there are not many in the United States that offer it.

“There’s only five of us left in the country,” Eicholz said. “We believe in the community and letting everybody see what we’ve got to offer.”

Eicholz said there is a capital funding campaign in the works, with an initial idea of raising $5 million. He said the zoo is also planning a June 8 gala where they plan to celebrate 70 years in business.

“We’ve asked for state and federal funding,” Eicholz said. “We just have to wait and hear if any of that is going to come to fruition. If that is the case, that will tell us how much we will have to raise.”

But Eicholz acknowledged the support from the Salisbury community over the years. He said he recently received a $1,000 check from a donor supporting the maintenance of the facility.

“One thing we know after the request of the $50,000, the support from the city council, mayor and the community is just overwhelming,” Eicholz said. “They’re in support of us.”

Reach Managing Editor Richard Caines at rcaines@iniusa.org.